Investigation of hygiene standard of carcasses slaughtered in five local slaughterhouses of Somaliland, Somalia

Abstract

Four hundred (400) swab samples were collected from small ruminant carcasses slaughtered from five local slaughterhouses of Somaliland state of the Republic of Somalia. The samples were analyzed for total viable counts, total coliforms and presence of Salmonella spp for purposes of assessing the levels of meat contamination of carcasses from these facilities. In addition, sources of meat contamination meat were identified. Carcasses sampled from the privately managed local slaughterhouse of Hargeisa had very low levels of contamination as compared to those managed by the municipalities (Berbera, Burao, Borama and Gabiley local slaughterhouses). This study was meant to establish sources of meat contamination in the selected slaughter facilities and recommend pragmatic mitigation measures.