Health Problems Associated With Utilization of Fore Stomach Digesta From Slaughter Animal at Sokoto Abattoir, Sokoto, Nigeria

This study has investigated the uses to which Fore stomach digesta recovered from animals slaughtered at the abattoir in Sokoto, Nigeria, are put and the attendant health risks. From preliminary investigation, the digesta are used as sources of manure mainly for vegetable farming as well as a medium for incubation of eggs of flies which hatches into larval forms (maggots) and used as sources of feeds for local poultry. Out of a total of 25 users investigated from the village of Dundaye farming community in Sokoto, 80% use it as farm manure, 16% as sources of poultry feed while 4% use them in fish pond. The study has shown that 84% of the respondents had diseases like ring worms, skin rashes, eczema, infected wounds, common cold, asthmatic attacks and constipation at one time or the other linked to the practice. Bacteriological investigation of the fore stomach digesta indicated that it was infected with various fungi and bacteria such as Candida albicans, Aspergillus species, Streptococcus species and Staphylococcus aureus. Skin swabs and scrapings from the farmers yielded by-product, the results obtained may account for the high number of the respondents (84%) with various diseases. There is therefore the need to develop a better treatment before its application to reduce the health hazards to the users. Keywords : Utilization, fore-stomach digesta, slaughter animals, Sokoto abattoir, Nigeria Sahel Journal of Veterinary Science Vol. 6 (1) 2007: pp. 9-12