Bacteriological and Parasitological Assessment of Water use in Selected Abattoirs in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria

In the abattoir, large amount of water is being used in processing operations; and this produces huge amount of wastewater which empty into the surrounding water bodies. The cross-sectional study followed the conventional microbiological techniques of macroscopy, microscopy, isolation, and identification to assess the bacteriological and parasitological examination of water sources in selected abattoirs in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria. The result of microbial population showed Total Coliform ranging from 5 x 101cfu/ml – 2.80 x 102cfu/ml and Faecal Coliform bacteria of 2.80 x 101 cfu/ml -1.85 x 102 cfu/ml. Total Heterotrophic bacteria ranged from 7.8 x101cfu/ml to 4.2 x102cfu/ml. The mean microbial counts; 4.86 x101 cfu/ml Fecal Coliform, 9.65 x 101cfu/ml Total Coliform and 1.82 x 102cfu/ml Heterotrophic Count. The isolates identified were Klebsiella spp, Shigella spp., Salmonella typhymurium, E. coli, Proteus spp., Salmonella paratyphi, Vibrio cholera. Nkpor village abattoir recorded highest occurrence of bacteria isolate with a total of 50(22.03%) followed by Iwofe 48(21.15%). Water sample from ponds had a higher parasitic contamination while samples from the borehole were free from parasitic infestation. Water samples for parasitological assessment were filtered and examined for parasitic organism using standard methods. Four different parasites were identified in the study, they include Ascaris lumbricoides (32.5%), Entamoeba histolytica (22.5%), Giardia lamblia (17.5%) and the least Taenia spp (7.5%). Nkpor-village abattoir had the highest level of contamination with (30.0%) parasite occurrence, followed by Mgboshimini abattoir (15.0%). The use of unsafe water for meat processing by butchers, portends a serious public health risk to consumers who purchase the meat, from these abattoirs. Therefore, government should endeavour to make borehole water available to all the abattoirs in Port Harcourt.