Microbial quality of chevon and mutton sold in Tamale Metropolis of Northern Ghana

The microbial quality of 80 meat samples made up of 40 chevon and 40 mutton were collected from the Aboabo, Central-internal, Central-external, and Sakasaka meat shops in Tamale Metropolis and assessed in order to ascertain it safety. Chevon from Aboabo and mutton from the Central market-internal had the highest mean total aerobic bacterial count of 3.9 X 10⁶cfu/cm² and 3.7 X 10⁶cfu/cm², respectively. The lowest total aerobic count in chevon was found in the Central-internal (6.0 X 10⁵ cfu/cm²) and that of mutton was found in Sakasaka market meat shop (6.0 X 10⁵ cfu/cm²). Bacteria isolated from the samples were Escherichia coli, Streptococcus species, Salmonella species, Enterococcus species, and Staphylococcus species, some of which harbor human pathogens of public health concern. The isolation of various bacteria in chevon and mutton sold in the Tamale Metropolis indicates that, lower standard of operating systems in the slaughtering, processing and sale of meats are adhered to. The Government of Ghana, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Food and Agriculture should enforce the laws that prohibit the illegal slaughtering of animals without veterinary inspection, unstandardized methods of handling animals, slaughtering and selling of meats on the open market.