Bacteriological characteristics of dressed young pigeon (squabs) Columba livia domesticus

A total of 50 frozen squabs carcasses were collected from different retail markets in Cairo and Giza governorates. The collected samples were examined bacteriologically. The aerobic plate count, the enterobacteriaceae and the Staphylococcus count were 6.6 x 10(5), 6.3 x 10(2) and 1.4 x 10(3) cfu./gram, respectively. The results revealed no positive samples for Salmonella Yersinia entercolitica, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 2% of samples. The sources of contamination of processed squabs carcasses and measures to minimize the bacterial load and safe guard the consumer are mentioned.