The aim of this study was to determine the effects of 3 antibiotics used for pulmonary pathologies added in the feed of weaned pigs on growth performance, commensal microbiota, and immune response. At weaning, a total of 72 pigs were randomly assigned by BW and litter to 1 of the following diets: control (typical weaning diet), control + 400 mg of tilmicosin/kg, control + 600 mg of amoxicillin/kg, and control + 300 mg of doxycycline/kg. Individually penned pigs were slaughtered after 3 wk (12 pigs/treatment) or 4 wk (6 pigs/treatment). During the fourth week, all pigs received the control diet to test the residual effect of the antimicrobial supplementation. The antibiotic supplementation increased growth and feed intake during the first week (P < 0.01) and over the first 3 wk combined (P < 0.05). Gain-to-feed ratio tended to improve during the first week (P = 0.076) by the antibiotics compared with the control. Among the antibiotic treatments, no difference was observed in ADG and feed intake, which were also unchanged by the diet in the fourth week. The fecal enterobacteria counts were increased by amoxicillin on d 14 and 21 (P < 0.05 and 0.01, respectively) and were decreased by tilmicosin (P < 0.001) compared with the control. Amoxicillin decreased lactic acid bacteria (P < 0.01) counts compared with the control. The antibiotic supplementation tended to decrease total bacteria variability in the jejunum (Shannon index, P = 0.091) compared with the control. The antibiotic treatment decreased the mean total serum IgM concentration (P = 0.016) after 3 wk and did not change the mucosal histomorphometry of the small intestine. For tilmicosin, the observed positive action on piglet performance and feed intake can originate by the decreased costs of immune activation determined by the action on intestinal microbiota. For amoxicillin and doxycycline, the observation on intestinal and fecal microbiota seems to be not sufficient to explain their growth-promoting effect.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different treatment conditions on microbiological indicators of donkey milk hygiene and their evolution during shelf life at 4 and 12°C from 3 to 30d, simulating a farm-scale pasteurization and packing system. Four treatment conditions were tested: no treatment (raw milk), pasteurization (65°C × 30 min), high-pressure processing (HPP), and pasteurization plus HPP. The microbiological quality of the raw donkey milk investigated was not optimal; our results highlight the importance of raw milk management with the need for animal hygiene management and good dairy farming practices on donkey farms to improve handling procedures. The raw milk treated with HPP alone showed visible alterations with flocks, making the milk unfit for sale. The microbiological risk posed by consumption of raw donkey milk was significantly reduced by heat treatment but farm-scale packing systems cannot guarantee an extended shelf life. In contrast, the pasteurization plus HPP treatment was the most effective method to maintain microbiological milk quality. Microflora growth had little effect on pH in donkey milk: pH values were significantly different only between raw milk and pasteurized and pasteurized plus HPP milk stored at 12°C for 3d. Alkaline phosphatase activity and furosine could be used as indicators of proper pasteurization and thermal processing in donkey milk. Moreover, the presence and growth of Bacillus cereus in the case of thermal abuse hamper the wide-scale marketing of donkey milk due to the potential consequences for sensitive consumers and therefore further tests with time/temperature/high-pressure protocols associated with B. cereus are needed. Finally, our study shows that an HPP treatment of pasteurized milk after packing extends the shelf life of donkey milk and assures its microbial criteria up to 30d if properly stored at 4°C until opening; therefore, combined heat treatment and storage strategies are recommended to enhance the shelf life of donkey milk.

We recently described the genetic antimicrobial resistance and virulence profile of a collection of 279 commensal E. coli of food-producing animal (FPA), pet, wildlife and human origin. Phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the role of commensal E. coli as reservoir of extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) virulence-associated genes (VAGs) or as potential ExPEC pathogens were evaluated. The most common phenotypic resistance was to tetracycline (76/279, 27.24%), sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (73/279, 26.16%), streptomycin and sulfisoxazole (71/279, 25.45% both) among the overall collection. Poultry and rabbit were the sources mostly associated to AMR, with a significant resistance rate (p > 0.01) to quinolones, streptomycin, sulphonamides, tetracycline and, only for poultry, to ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Finally, rabbit was the source mostly associated to colistin resistance. Different pandemic (ST69/69*, ST95, ST131) and emerging (ST10/ST10*, ST23, ST58, ST117, ST405, ST648) ExPEC sequence types (STs) were identified among the collection, especially in poultry source. Both ST groups carried high number of ExPEC VAGs (pandemic ExPEC STs, mean = 8.92; emerging ExPEC STs, mean = 6.43) and showed phenotypic resistance to different antimicrobials (pandemic ExPEC STs, mean = 2.23; emerging ExPEC STs, mean = 2.43), suggesting their role as potential ExPEC pathogens. Variable phenotypic resistance and ExPEC VAG distribution was also observed in uncommon ExPEC lineages, suggesting commensal flora as a potential reservoir of virulence (mean = 3.80) and antimicrobial resistance (mean = 1.69) determinants.

This study investigates the microbiological conditions before maturation of wild boar meat (Sus scrofa) processed in approved game handling establishments in Italy. Fillets and legquarters of 37 carcasses were tested to assess Aerobic Colony Count (ACC), Enterobacteriaceae Count (EC) and Salmonella presence.Salmonella was never found and mean values of ACC and EC were 4.67±1.78 SD and 2.60±1.58 SD log CFU/cm 2 , respectively. Both ACC and EC increased with time between evisceration and skinning, were significantly higher in fillets and when meat was processed by untrained operators. ACC also increased with boars' weight and when carcasses were cleaned with running potable water. Based on limits set by EU Regulation No 1441/2007 for pork meat, most legquarters resulted satisfactory or acceptable (59% for ACC and 70% for EC), while most fillets were unsatisfactory (76% ACC, 78% EC). Results show that the wild game meat supply chain can be a safe process when handling practices reported in European and National regulations are met. Highlight: Legquarters microbiological load was mostly within the EU limits set for pork meat  None of the samples showed Salmonella contamination  Washing with running water worsens the microbiological quality of carcasses  Microbial contamination increases with time between evisceration and skinning  Correct training of operators reduces microbial contamination 2

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

During the years 2015-2016, 83 faecal samples were collected at slaughter from pigs reared in farms located in Central-Northern Italy. During the years 2014-2016 a total of 562 pork products [465 not-readyto-eat (NRTE) and 97 ready-to-eat (RTE) products] were collected from retail outlets, large retailers and processing plants. The samples were analysed according to ISO TS 13136:2012. Out of 83 swine faecal samples, 77 (92.8%) resulted stx-positive by real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 5 stx2+ and 1 stx1+ Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains were isolated. Among the 465 NRTE samples, 65 (14.0%) resulted stx-positive by real time PCR and 7 stx2+ STEC strains were isolated. The stx2 gene was detected more frequently than the stx1 gene both in faecal samples (90.4 vs 8.4%) and in NRTE pork products (13.3 vs 1.3%). All the RTE samples included in the analysis resulted stx-negative. Among the samples resulted positive for stx and eae genes, serogroup-associated genes were detected at high frequency: O26 resulted the most frequent in faecal samples (81.3%) and O145 in pork products (88.1%). The O157 serogroup resulted positive in 83.3 and 78.1% of pork products and faecal samples, respectively. Despite the frequent detection by real time PCR of genes indicating the possible presence of STEC strains belonging to the six serogroups, the bacteriological step did not confirm the isolation of any such strains.