No abstract

No abstract

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Purpose of Review Ensuring broilers’ meat safety is a priority to policy makers, producers, and consumers. This systematic review aims to update the recent knowledge on pre-harvest interventions to control main foodborne pathogens in broilers and to assess their effectiveness. Recent Findings A total of 815 studies were retrieved from PubMed® and Web of Science for 13 pathogens. In total, 51 studies regarding Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp., VTEC, ESBL-AmpC Escherichia coli, and Clostridium perfringens were included in this review. Summary Research mostly focused on Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. Biosecurity and management interventions had mixed outcomes, while the effectiveness of feed additives, though intensively researched, remains controversial. Research on other pathogens (i.e. ESBL-AmpC E. coli/Salmonella, and Toxoplasma gondii) was scarce, with publications focusing on epidemiology and/or on source-attribution studies. This is also true regarding research on Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, and Staphylococcus aureus as these are frequently controlled by post-harvest interventions. Overall, studies on recent developments of novel pathogen-specific immunisation strategies are lacking.

This study investigates the effects of space allowance (SA), mixing and phase feeding (PF) on performance of grower-finisher pigs. Three trials (T) were conducted. In T1 and T2, 345 pigs/trial were moved to finisher stage at 11 weeks of age and assigned to two SAs: 0.96 (n = 15 pens; 10 pigs/pen) and 0.78 (n = 15; 13 pigs/pen) m2/pig. Mixing was applied to 5 pens of each SA leading to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (SA × Mixing). For PF, 2 diets with 0.95 and 0.82 g SID Lys/MJ NE were applied to 5 pens of each SA (not mixed) leading to another 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (SA × PF). In T3, 230 pigs were moved to the grower-finisher stage at 11 weeks of age, mixed, and assigned to 4 treatments (SA × PF; n = 5 pens). Data were analyzed using general linear mixed models. SA did not affect performance (p > 0.05). Non-mixed pigs were 5.40 (T1) and 5.25 (T2) kg heavier than mixed pigs at 21 weeks of age (p < 0.001). PF reduced performance of pigs by 3.45 (T1) and 4.05 (T2) kg at 21 weeks of age (p < 0.001). In conclusion, mixing and reducing SID Lys:NE ratio from 0.95 to 0.82 g/MJ at 15–16 weeks of age, have a more marked impact on performance than reducing SA from 0.96 to 0.78 m2/pig.

This study aimed to assess baseline levels of coughing on a farm free of respiratory disease, and to identify relationships between environmental conditions and coughing frequency in finisher pigs. Six replicates were conducted (690 pigs in total). A cross-correlation analysis was performed and lags of the predictor variables were carried forward for multivariable regression analysis when significant and showing r > 0.25. Results show that coughing frequency was overall low. In the first replicate, coughing was best predicted by exposure to higher ammonia concentrations that occurred with a lag of 1, 7, and 15 days (p = 0.003, p = 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively), while in the sixth replicate coughing frequency was best predicted by the exposure to lower relative humidity and higher ventilation rates with a lag of 7 and 15 days (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively). Ammonia concentrations varied according to ventilation rates recorded on the same day (r > −0.70). In conclusion, guidelines on coughing levels in healthy pigs and calibration of the alarm systems of tools that measure coughing frequency can be extrapolated from this study. Environmental risk factors are associated with the respiratory health of finisher pigs.

This systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness of pre-harvest interventions to control the main foodborne pathogens in pork in the European Union. A total of 1180 studies were retrieved from PubMed® and Web of Science for 15 pathogens identified as relevant in EFSA’s scientific opinion on the public health hazards related to pork (2011). The study selection focused on controlled studies where a cause–effect could be attributed to the interventions tested, and their effectiveness could be inferred. Altogether, 52 studies published from 1983 to 2020 regarding Campylobacter spp., Clostridium perfringens, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium avium, and Salmonella spp. were retained and analysed. Research was mostly focused on Salmonella (n = 43 studies). In-feed and/or water treatments, and vaccination were the most tested interventions and were, overall, successful. However, the previously agreed criteria for this systematic review excluded other effective interventions to control Salmonella and other pathogens, like Yersinia enterocolitica, which is one of the most relevant biological hazards in pork. Examples of such successful interventions are the Specific Pathogen Free herd principle, stamping out and repopulating with disease-free animals. Research on other pathogens (i.e., Hepatitis E, Trichinella spiralis and Toxoplasma gondii) was scarce, with publications focusing on epidemiology, risk factors and/or observational studies. Overall, high herd health coupled with good management and biosecurity were effective to control or prevent most foodborne pathogens in pork at the pre-harvest level.

Background Using Food Chain Information data to objectively identify high-risk animals entering abattoirs can represent an important step forward towards improving on-farm animal welfare. We aimed to develop and evaluate the performance of classification models, using Gradient Boosting Machine algorithms that utilise accurate longitudinal on-farm data on pig health and welfare to predict condemnations, pluck lesions and low cold carcass weight at slaughter. Results The accuracy of the models was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve (AUC). The AUC for the prediction models for pneumonia, dorsocaudal pleurisy, cranial pleurisy, pericarditis, partial and total condemnations, and low cold carcass weight varied from 0.54 for pneumonia and 0.67 for low cold carcass weight. For dorsocaudal pleurisy, ear lesions assessed on pigs aged 12 weeks and antimicrobial treatments (AMT) were the most important prediction variables. Similarly, the most important variable for the prediction of cranial pleurisy was the number of AMT. In the case of pericarditis, ear lesions assessed both at week 12 and 14 were the most important variables and accounted for 33% of the Bernoulli loss reduction. For predicting partial and total condemnations, the presence of hernias on week 18 and lameness on week 12 accounted for 27% and 14% of the Bernoulli loss reduction, respectively. Finally, AMT (37%) and ear lesions assessed on week 12 (15%) were the most important variables for predicting pigs with low cold carcass weight. Conclusions The findings from our study show that on farm assessments of animal-based welfare outcomes and information on antimicrobial treatments have a modest predictive power in relation to the different meat inspection outcomes assessed. New research following the same group of pigs longitudinally from a larger number of farms supplying different slaughterhouses is required to confirm that on farm assessments can add value to Food Chain Information reports.