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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #115678
Title: SALMONELLA SURVEY TOOLS IN SWINE: FARM AND ABATTOIR - PRELIMINARY REPORT

Author
item MCKEAN, JAMES - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Hurd, Howard
item ROSTAGNO, MARCOS - 3625-30-15
item GRIFFITH, RONALD - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Wesley, Irene

Submitted to: Food Safety Consortium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/19/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This study casts substantial doubts on the usefulness of fecal culture as a Salmonella spp. antemortem detection tool in market swine. Similar prevalence estimates were obtained using culture of 1 g feces 3 days before necropsy (3.1%), cecal contents (2.8%), ileocecal lymph nodes (3.9%), and 1 g feces collected at necropsy (2.1%). However, these positive results were rarely obtained from the same pigs. Upon combining the results of all samples collected at necropsy, the cumulative prevalence was 8.5%. This cumulative prevalence was much lower (p < 0.001) than the prevalence for pen mates necropsied at the abattoir after 2-3 hours exposure to abattoir pens. The cumulative prevalence at the abattoir was 40.8%. This rise in prevalence demonstrates the potential for acute gut infections with Salmonella spp. to occur in response to normal exposure to the abattoir antemortem environment. Such environmental exposures may substantially alter the development of abattoir HACCP control plans for Salmonella spp. and for evaluation of on-farm practices.