3.1. Variations related to areas of the hides
On average, Salmonella spp. and E . coli O157 were
found on hide on rump area in 2.2% and 3.3%, respectively,
of slaughtered bovines. The flank area of the hide
was more frequently contaminated with the pathogens,
i.e., the incidence of Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157 on
the flank was 4- and 1.25-fold, respectively, higher than
on the rump area. This higher incidence of the pathogens
on hide on the flank is probably due to the fact that
the flank is a horizontally prominent area on the side of
cattle, and therefore comes into direct contact with other
animals and vertical surfaces (walls, rails, etc.) more
easily. However, the results of this study clearly show
that brisket is the area on hide most heavily contaminated
with food-borne pathogens. On this area of their
coat, on average, more than one in five slaughtered
bovines carried E. coli O157 (22.2%), and one in 10
animals carried Salmonella spp. The contamination of
the brisket hide area occurs when animals lie down on
contaminated ground/floor either on the farm, during
transportation, in lairage, and/or within the stunning
box. The average incidence of E. coli O157 on the
brisket hide area in this study is double that (10.7%)
recently reported in USA (Elder et al., 2000). Both
studies were carried out in the summer months, i.e.,
peak prevalence season, and both studies also used
comparable methods of isolation. The marked differences