Monitoring of microbial contamination of stick wound in swine carcasses

This study was done to evaluate the microbial contamination by Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, fecal coliforms, and total aerobic count of the stick wound of swine carcasses. The effectiveness of trimming the stick wound in the 2 Québec slaughterhouses visited was evaluated. A bacteriological analysis was done on 276 stick wounds. Results indicated that, before trimming, 0.9% stick wounds were contaminated by Salmonella spp. Contamination by coliforms was observed in 40.6% of samples, and 27.7% were positive for E. coli. After trimming the stick wounds, 1.1% were contaminated by Salmonella spp., 34.1% were contaminated by coliforms, and 26.2% were positive for E. coli. The results showed that trimming contributes to reducing significantly the bacterial total count at the site and that the bacterial load at this site was less important than that found on the brisket.