Abstract:
The study was conducted from July 2022 to February 2023 to assess cleanliness efficiency of selected slaughter slabs and Mbale city abattoir. A cross-sectional study involving a structured questionnaire survey was used to record unhygienic practices for both slaughter slabs and the city abattoir on purposively selected respondents (60). Furthermore 16 swab samples from floor water and clothes of the workers in the study area were aseptically collected and analysed for microbial load at Busitema University, Arapai laboratory. The aim of the study was to assess the cleanliness efficiency of selected slaughter slabs and Mbale city abattoir. Whose specific objectives were to determine the factors affecting hygiene in slaughter slabs and Mbale city abattoir and lastly to enumerate the bacterial load in the slaughter slabs and Mbale city abattoir? Key findings revealed that microbial load of Staphylococcus aureus was not exceeding the minimum recommended standard of < 5 log10 cfu/cm2 while that of Escheria coli was above the recommended standard of < 1.8 log10 cfu/cm2. This literally translates that there was a lot of faecal contamination in the selected slaughter slabs and the city abattoir meaning that the hygienic practices were poor. There was more E coli compared to staph aureus. I recommend further studies be conducted on Microbial load of the meat supplied and consumed in the nearby local restaurants.
