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<ol> <li>Determine the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella and the level of generic microbial contamination on the hides of slaughter cows and bulls.
<li>Determine the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella and the level of generic microbial contamination on cow/bull carcasses before preevisceration microbial interventions.
<li>Determine the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella and the level of generic microbial contamination on cow/bull carcasses after all microbial interventions.
<li>Determine the relationship between the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 and the prevalence of salmonella and measures of the level of generic microorganisms for cow/bull hides and carcasses.</ol>
<p>
Hide, pre-evisceration carcass, and post-wash carcass sponge samples will be obtained from 5 cow/bull slaughter plants. For each plant, sampling will occur on three days with 50 samples of each type obtained on each day for a total of 150 samples of each type per plant and a grand total of 750 samples of each type (Table 1). Samples will be transported (2 degree C) to MARC and analyzed for enterobacteriaceae count, aerobic plate count, and prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella. Most probable number of E. coli O157:H7 will be determined for all positive pre-evisceration carcass and post wash carcass samples.</p>