Abstract
Foodborne disease caused by Salmonella is an important public health concern worldwide. An observational study was conducted on apparently healthy cattle at four abattoir slabs, Tripoli, Libya from April 2017 to October 2017. The objective was to estimate the prevalence of Salmonella isolated from feces of cattle and to identify associated risk factors in abattoirs. From the total of 353 fecal samples examined for Salmonella using the conventional culture procedures outlined by International organization for Standardization, 15 (4.25%) were positive. A real-time PCR assay yielded 2 positives out of 44 randomly selected negative-culture fecal samples. An animal origin and shipping distance factors were found to be statistical significantly associated with the prevalence of Salmonella in cattle feces presented for slaughtering (P<0.05). The results presented in this study confirm the presence of Salmonella in cattle feces at pre-slaughter stage which may pose a considerable food safety hazard. In addition, the application of real-time PCR assay suggested to be an important confirmatory tool for detection of Salmonella in cattle feces. Key words: Salmonella; Cattle; feces; conventional cultures; Real-Time PCR, Tripoli, Libya.