ISOLATION OF Pseudomonas aeruginosa FROM ABATTOIR EFFLUENT IN BENIN CITY, EDO STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Abattoirs serve as the initial stage for meat processing industries, particularly in communities where Livestock is directly sourced from markets or farms before entering the food supply chain. Due to the exposure, handling procedures and cleaning techniques using contaminated water, it is more likely that fresh met sold in the market will be infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Wastewater samples were obtained from the abattoir effluent under sterile condition, and transported to the Microbiology Laboratory of Benson Idahosa University, under sterile conditions. Total heterotrophic bacterial and Pseudomonas aeruginosa counts were determined using nutrient agar and cetrimide agar base by pour plate method. The mean heterotrophic bacterial and mean Pseudomonas aeruginosa range from 179.00±11.00 to 339.33±19.97cfu/ml and 0.00±0.00 to 64.33±6.11cfu/ml respectively. The morphological and cultural characterisation of the bacterial isolates shows that 3 of the bacterial isolates were Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The presence of this bacterial in abattoir effluent is an indication that abattoir could be a source of contamination of surface water, and efforts must be made to reduce the potential public health concerns associated with abattoirs.