No abstract

F OOD-borne diseases are a major health problem in developing countries including Pakistan. With regard to meat hygiene, the question is posed whether carriers of pathogenic organisms, like Salmonella, shigella, and E. coli can contaminate a product with their hands. This might be possible in case of not using appropriate water, not maintaining proper hand hygiene during mean handling or due to bad toilet hygiene. This study was thus conducted to determine the prevalence of some selected hygiene indicator bacteria on the hands of poultry butchers and their hand washing water in two selected districts of Pakistan, i.e. Hyderabad and Jamshoro. Three hygiene indicator bacteria, Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli were focused in this regard and for Salmonella spp. antibiotic resistance was also determine. Total 76 samples were collected (38 water and 38 hands). Isolation of bacteria were carried out by some standard microbiological techniques. Out of 38 water samples, 76.3%, 81.5% and 81.5% of samples were positive for Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli. While for butchers' hand samples, the prevalence of Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli was found as 92.1%, 97.3%, and 100%. The overall antibiotic resistance is as follows: ampicillin (89%), azithromycin (3.1%), ceftazidime (0%), gentamicin (25.5%), cefotaxime (25%), erythromycin (40.6%), neomycin (31.2%), streptomycin (48.4%), and sulphamethoxazole (50%). Percentage of Multi-drug resistant (MDR) isolates found in water and butchers' hands sample is 50% and 71.4%. One Extremelydrug resistant (XDR) isolate is also found in hands samples. The high prevalence of Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli in butchers' hands and hand washing water can transfer to the meat and cause many foodborne infections in meat consumers.

In the present study, hygiene conditions and meat handling practices of poultry butchers are assessed by using a hygiene assessment tool. The study was conducted in the Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts of Pakistan from April 2019 to February 2020. A total of fifty slaughtering facilities were selected based on convenient sampling techniques and butchers from those shops were interviewed by using a hygienic assessment tool. Moreover, socio-demographic details of butchers were also recorded by questionnaire survey. The hygiene assessment tool comprises three domains, personal hygiene index (PHI), meat hygiene index (MHI) and slaughtering facility hygiene index (SFHI). Each of the indexes consists of certain observations and each of the positive observations was scored one, while negative observation was scored zero. It has been revealed from this study that more than 50% of butchers were without any education and none of the butchers had received any formal training in slaughtering and meat handling practices. Basic prerequisites of hygiene such as handwashing facilities and clean water were missing in all of the slaughtering facilities. More than 30 and 50 percent of butchers scored the least (between zero – one) in PHI MHI and SFHI. However, the total score of butchers with a higher level of education was greater (p < 0.05) than with a lower education level. To improve hygiene levels and reduce transmission of diseases due to the consumption of contaminated meat, regular surveillance of the poultry shops and formal training of butchers are necessary.