Knowledge, attitude and practices of abattoir workers and veterinarians toward meat safety in abattoir or slaughter slabs within Uyo Metropolis, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

Infectious diseases at the animal–human–ecosystem interface constitute a source of growing concern due to their endemicity, epidemic potential, and negative socioeconomic impact.^[1,2] Food safety constitutes a major global public health and economic concern as food-borne illnesses have caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries.^[3] The majority of food-borne diseases in developing countries were suggested to be acquired from foods of animal origin.^[4] Meat handlers play a crucial role in the spread of food-borne pathogens either from contaminated utensils or from the animal itself.^[5]

Substandard facilities, unsanitary environments, and poor hygienic practices are reported in abattoirs and slaughterhouses across Nigeria,^[6,7] including Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. Also, there is paucity of data on knowledge, attitude, and practice toward meat safety among meat handlers in the abattoirs, however no such data for veterinarians is available. Hence, information from this study will result in the formulation of appropriate policies that will lead to improved meat safety and public health within the state. The specific objectives of the study are to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of veterinarians and abattoir workers toward meat safety in abattoir or slaughter slabs within Uyo Metropolis, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study area

The study was conducted in the Uyo central abattoir (5.055555°N, 7.883577°E), Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria [Figure 1]. Akwa Ibom State is located in the south-south region of Nigeria, and meat is highly appreciated at every meal across the State.^[8] The state comprises 31 local government areas. The Uyo central abattoir has a holding capacity of 300 cattle with an average of 950 cattle slaughtered monthly. The abattoir is owned and managed by the State Government, and the slaughter operations take place on the floor in the absence of a cooling facility.

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Figure 1:

Map of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria showing Uyo local government area (red) and Uyo central abattoir (blue circle).

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RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Meat safety is a critical issue that requires the full involvement of all parties involved in meat processing, and good knowledge, attitude, and practice toward the concept are necessary to ensure public health. In this study, the knowledge, attitude, and practice of abattoir workers and veterinarians toward meat safety in slaughter slabs within Uyo metropolis, Akwa Ibom State Nigeria were assessed. Majority of the abattoir workers (87.5%) and veterinarians (60.0%) were males. The dominance of male abattoir workers in this study might be due to the rigorous and risky nature of the butchery and meat handling processes, which was consistent with that observed in similar studies.^[7,9,10] The limited number of female veterinarians (5) in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service of which four were posted in the abattoir in which this study was conducted might be the reason for the high number of male veterinarians than females.

The age category of 20–29 (37.5%) and 30–39 (42.5%) years in which most of the abattoir workers are composed points to the fact that ages filled with energy are needed for the rigor of the abattoir tasks, which was similar to that reported in other studies.^[9,10] The educational distribution in this study revealed that 32.5 and 37.5% of respondents attended primary and secondary school, respectively. This observation might be due to the belief that the tasks involved match individuals with no or these levels of education and/or the belief that individuals with tertiary education are not supposed to be involved with butchery and meat handling processes in the abattoir.

The overall poor knowledge of abattoir workers resulted in the lack of knowledge on meat safety, reduction of contamination risk through regular hand washing, and use of hand gloves and cleaning of working surfaces. These may indicate a lack of regular and consistent training for the meat handlers. Hence, it is important to put in place interventions such as regular update training to bridge the knowledge gap of abattoir workers. The overall good knowledge of veterinarians is likely due to the fact that they have been informed on meat safety during their trainings in the university. However, the negative responses by some veterinarians toward professional experience (60.0%) and need for refrigeration of meat before sale (40.0%) suggest the need for their regular and consistent training on meat safety. However, the absence of a cold room in the abattoir in Akwa Ibom State might be responsible for the negative response to refrigeration of meat before sale.

The statistically significant association (P = 0.000) between education level and knowledge of meat safety among abattoir workers suggests that those with tertiary education had better knowledge of meat safety than those with no formal, primary, and secondary educations in Uyo Akwa Ibom State. This might be due to the fact those with tertiary education had been informed in one way or the other about meat safety in their tertiary institutions. No significant association was observed between overall knowledge of meat safety with gender, age, marital status, and experience working in the abattoir. In contrast, studies have demonstrated better knowledge in younger meat handlers as they are more willing to learn than older ones,^[11] though the latter had more years of experience.^[9]

The overall poor attitude of abattoir workers is contrary to the overall good (53.1%) attitude to meat hygiene reported in Lagos State.^[9] The good overall attitude of veterinarians in this study is not unexpected as it will go a long way to help them disseminate their duties appropriately. However, negative responses provided by some veterinarians (30.0%) such as comparing slaughtering on the floor and using a line might be due to their lack of familiarity and/or inadequate awareness of the drastic reduction in contamination risk on using the line in meat processing. The absence of a line in abattoirs in Akwa Ibom State might be another reason that informed their negative response. The statistically significant association (P = 0.023) between overall attitude and age revealed that workers in the age group of 20–29 years had poorer attitude toward meat safety as they were more likely to ignore or neglect safety tips than older ones due to their youthful exuberance.

The abattoir workers had overall poor practices, but they all provided a positive response to hand washing practice and this is consistent with that reported in Lagos State.^[9] Regular and proper hand washing constitute key considerations toward alteration of routes of disease transmission via meat contamination.^[12] It is therefore critical to ensure that meat handlers maintain this habit and also improve on other important hygienic procedures to avoid meat contamination.^[13] Improper meat handling and poor hygiene were reported to constitute the primary risk factors promoting food contamination and subsequent food-borne diseases.^[5,14] Therefore, it is recommended that meat handlers with open skin injuries or bruises, gastroenteritis, ear or throat diseases, and any similar infectious diseases should not be involved in any form of meat handling or processing as these individuals are potential risks for meat contamination and spread of such diseases.^[14,15]

The statistically significant association (P = 0.011) between overall practice toward meat safety and years of experience showed that workers with less than 1-year experience had poorer practices toward meat safety as they were not familiar with such safety practices in the abattoir. In addition, despite the overall good practices, veterinarians should be enlightened on the danger of performing meat inspection with bare hands and when they are ill.

From this study, it was evident that abattoir workers in slaughter houses within Uyo metropolis, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria had poor while veterinarians had good knowledge, attitude, and practices toward meat safety. This suggests that the issue of meat safety within Uyo metropolis is a serious concern and should be given immediate attention.

CONCLUSIONS

Abattoir workers had poor knowledge, attitude, and practice, while veterinarians had good knowledge, attitude, and practice toward meat safety in abattoir or slaughter slabs within Uyo Metropolis, Akwa Ibom State. There is a need for adequate regular and consistent training of abattoir workers and veterinarians, a massive public enlightenment and awareness on meat safety. The State Government should ensure renovation of the abattoir to match minimum requirement for standard abattoir practices. Furthermore, there is a need for routine inspection of the abattoir or slaughter slab and enforcement of compliance with good meat hygiene practices.