| ENTEROPATHOGENS
IN CARCASS MEAT
A recent press release has highlighted
the problem of Salmonella, Campylobacter
and Yersinia in swine and ruminant
meat. The report quotes a Ministry
of Agriculture Fisheries and Food
survey conducted jointly with the
Meat and Livestock Commission over
the last year.
The survey found a carrier rate
of 23% of Salmonella in pigs presented
for slaughter with a 5.3% carcass
contamination rate in the slaughterhouse.
The carriage rate of Salmonella
in ruminants was much lower at about
0.2%.
This data will be used as a start
line for a series of control strategies
that will be implemented over the
next few years to see if different
systems can be used to reduce the
frequency of infection in livestock
production. However, even at this
preliminary stage, the results can
be compared with data from earlier
studies. This comparison shows that
the frequency of Salmonella isolations
in cattle has fallen steadily over
the last five years but swine infection
levels have remained constant over
the same period.
Other results show a much greater
potential problem with Campylobacter
in swine, cattle and sheep. Contamination
levels in live animals going for
slaughter are 94.5% for pigs, 24.5%
for cattle and 17% for sheep. Fortunately
only 3.8% of the Campylobacter isolated
in swine were C. jejuni the human
pathogen. Campylobacter is a Gram
negative bacterium thought to cause
more cases of food poisoning in
humans than Salmonella.
Yersinia is also found in these
animals with 26.1% of pigs, 6.6%
of cattle and 13.7% of sheep all
Yersinia positive. Yersinia is a
Gram negative bacterium that causes
plague and is carried by rats and
fleas.
All these bacteria can be effectively
controlled in the feed by using
BACT-A-CID or PREFECT to improve
feed biosecurity. This is especially
important for home mixers and when
feed is stored on farm where rodent
and insect vectors are common.
In the animal the pH lowering effect
of the unique Agil carrier matrix
will encourage a healthy gut microflora,
which is more able to competitively
exclude these pathogens. This of
course reduces pathogen excretion
and minimises horizontal transmission
of disease.
Murray J Hyden Technical Sales
Director
18th December 2000
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