Assessment of Hygiene Status of Retail Fish Market using Seasonal Changes in Microbial Load as a Tool

The hygienic status of the Battala retail fish market Agartala, Tripura, India was assessed by microbiological analysis of Total Plate Count (TPC), Total Coliform Count (TCC), Total Psychrophilic Count (TPSC) and Total Staphylococcus Count (TSC) from the fish skin swabs, retailers' hand swabs, water, ice, selling platform swabs and cutter swabs. The presence of coliforms and Staphylococcus in higher counts in the samples was an indication of contamination from human source. The average TPC ranged from 3.82 to 6.59 log cfu cm(-2) ml(-1) in fish skin, ice, water and other contact surfaces (selling platforms, retailers' hand swabs and cutter) and was found above acceptable limit in almost all samples which was clearly a reflection of prevailing unhygienic condition of the market. Psychrophilic bacteria count (5.07-6.77 log cfu cm(-2) or ml(-1)) was significantly high (p<0.05) in fish skin and ice which may be due to the prolonged storage of fish in ice, the use of poor quality water for ice manufacturing and contamination from fish and ice box during transportation. Total coliform count in fish skin, wash water, ice and all contact surfaces ranges from 3.72 to 5.21 log cfu cm(-2) or ml(-1) during the study period. Unacceptable level of coliforms in all samples is indicative of the contamination with faecal matter and with the enteric pathogens as well. Staphylococcus sp count (3.77-5.38 log cfu cm(-2) or ml(-1)) for all the samples exceeded the acceptable limit which indicated the poor personal hygiene maintained among the retailers. So the results call for improvements in general infrastructure of this fish market to maintain good sanitation and hygiene.