[Routes of pathogenic staphylococcal contamination of slaughter poultry]

The contamination of birds with pathogenic staphylococci was followed up during their slaughter handling and trimming at two poultry-dressing houses. It was found that water cooling and evisceration were mostly contributing to contamination. Taking part in the dissemination of Staphylococcus infection were also the female workers on the slaughter belt, especially those that had wounds on their hands. Studied were the properties of a total of 881 strains of staphylococci, 43.35 per cent of them being defined as Staph. aureus, and 56.64 per cent--as Staph. edidermidis.