Assessment of microbial carcass contamination of hunted wild boars
View/ Open
Date
2017Author
Mirčeta, Jovan
Petrović, Jelena
Malešević, Miloš
Blagojević, Bojan
Antić, Dragan
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
To investigate the microbiological conditions of
hunted wild boar carcasses and factors that contribute to the
microbial carcass contamination, skin and carcass meat swab
samples from 210 hunted wild boars were collected from
freshly shot animals. The mean aerobic colony counts
(ACCs) and Enterobacteriaceae counts on the skin were 5.2
and 3.6 log10 CFU/cm2
, with 1.4% of animals’ skin tested
positive for Salmonella spp. Slightly higher mean ACC and
Enterobacteriaceae counts of 5.4 and 3.8 log10 CFU/cm2
were obtained from carcass meat with Salmonella spp. prevalence
of 1.9%. Inadequate hygiene practices in handling and
dressing wild boar carcasses, such as evisceration in the laying
position on the ground and practice of skin and interior carcass
surface washing after evisceration, were found to have the
most significant influence on the microbiological conditions
of final carcasses. Therefore, these findings indicate the need
for the implementation and strict adherence to good hygiene
practice in hunting estates and game handling establishments.