Evaluation of swab and wash-based sampling methods for process hygiene monitoring of rabbitcarcasses

Rabbit meat is increasingly consumed as a nutritious alternative to conventional meats; however, information on appropriate microbiological sampling methods for rabbit carcasses remains limited. The primary objective of this study was to compare swab- and wash-based sampling methods for microbial monitoring of rabbit carcasses. As a secondary objective, we assessed whether anatomical sampling location (neck vs. hind leg) influenced aerobic plate count (APC) recovery. Carcasses were sampled at a commercial slaughter facility using three methods: surface swabbing of the neck and hind leg, site-specific wash-water sampling of the neck and hind leg, and whole-carcass wash sampling. APC was enumerated using 3M Petrifilm Aerobic Count plates and expressed as log CFU/mL. Within both the surface-swab and site-specific wash-water sampling methods, APC did not differ significantly between neck and hind leg samples, indicating that sampling location had little effect on bacterial recovery. Whole-carcass wash sampling yielded a significantly higher overall APC than combined neck-and-hind-leg swabbing (2.75±0.16 vs. 1.71±0.84 log CFU/mL, respectively; p<0.05), suggesting that whole-carcass wash sampling is more sensitive for detecting surface microbial contamination and may therefore represent a useful approach for routine process hygiene monitoring in rabbit slaughter facilities.