Figure 1:Percentage occurrence of bacteria isolated from smoked rabbit meat sold on Lagos-Benin Expressway

Grades
TVBC (total viable count)/g at 30 °C,
Description
I
<1/2 million
Satisfactory
II
1/2 million to <10 million
Passable
III
10 million and more
Unsatisfactory
Table 1:

Standard Microbial Load Specification in Animal Food Products
Source: Williams, et al.22

Location/

Sample
Bacterial counts in CFU/g
TVBC
TEC
TEC

TSAC           Salmonella

count

1

3.20 x 105a

1.05 x 103a

1.44 x 103b

1.22 x 102a       1.4 x 103a

2

3.00 x 105a

1.20 x 103a

1.23 x 103a

1.17 x 102a      -

3

1.83 x 105b

1.25 x 103a

1.42 x 103b

1.62 x 102a       -

4

2.00 x 105b

1.32 x 103b

1.14 x 103a

1.19 x 102a       2.0 x 103b

5

2.94 x 105a

1.22 x 103a

1.10 x 103a

1.20 x 102a      -

6

1.48 x 105b

1.23 x 103b

1.28 x 103b

1.33 x 102a      -

7

2.24 x 105b

1.15 x 103a

1.30 x 103b

1.14 x 102a       -

8

2.47 x 105b

1.12 x 103a

1.25 x 103b

2.36 x 102b       -

9

3.00 x 105a

1.36 x 103b

1.21 x 103a

2.10 x 102b      -

10

2.35 x 105b

1.28 x 103b

1.33 x 103b

1.20 x 102a       -

Values with same superscript along same column showed no significant difference (P > 0.05).

Table 2: Bacteriological Quality of Rabbit Meat sold on Lagos-Benin Expressway, Nigeria
Keys:

TVBC:   Total viable bacterial count;          TEC:      Total Enterobacteriaceae count
TCC:      Total coliform count;                      TSAC:   Total Staphylococcus aureus count

Sample
Bacterial Isolates
1
Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa
2
Klebsiella spp, Enterococcus spp , Staphylococcus aureus  Proteus spp
3
Proteus spp, Micrococcus spp, Staphylococcus aureus
4
Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp, Salmonella spp,
5
Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus spp,
6
Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Klebsiella spp,
7
Micrococcus spp, Staphylococcus aureus , Klebsiella spp.
8
Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus spp, E. coli
9
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp, Micrococcus spp
10
Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus spp, E. coli, Enterococcus spp
Table 3:Occurrence of Bacterial Species in Rabbit Meat sold on Lagos-Benin Expressway, Nigeria

Test

S. aureus

Salmonella
spp

Micrococcus spp

Enterococcus spp

E. coli

Proteus spp

Klebsiella spp

P. auroginosa

Gram’s reaction

+

-

+

+

-

-

-

-

Catalase

+

-

+

-

+

-

+

+

Coagulase

+

-

-

+

-

-

-

-

Citrate Utilization

-

-

+

+

+

+

+

+

Oxidase

-

-

-

+

-

-

+

+

Urease

+

-

-

-

-

+

+

-

Indole

-

-

-

-

+

+

-

-

Glucose

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

-

Lactose

+

+

-

+

+

+

+

-

Sucrose

+

-

+

+

+

+

+

-

Mannitol

+

+

-

+

+

-

-

+

Maltose

+

+

+

+

+

+

-

-

Cellular morphology

Cocci

Rod

Cocci

Cocci

Rod

Rod

Rod

Rod

Growth on Mannitol salt agar

Bright yellow

ND

Pink

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

Growth on MacConkey agar

N/A

Colourless

N/A

Pink

Red/Pink

Colourless

Mucoid

Pale

Growth on blood agar

Creamy white

Smooth white

Smooth pigmented

Creamy

Circular

Swarming waves

Large white

Greenish

Keys: + = Positive;  - = Negative; N/A = Not applicable; ND = Not determined.

Table 4:Biochemical characteristics of bacterial isolates from rabbit meat sold on Lagos-Benin expressway, Nigeria