Brazil is considered as a great broiler feet exporter, especially for the Chinese
trade. Contact lesions at the tibiotarsal region are responsible for economic
losses and there is no model for its classification, thereby this study presents
a fast and practical grade system to be used in the poultry industry and
proposes these lesion characterizations into three different grades. For this,
correlation was made between macroscopic, histological findings and
microbiological quantification (
Escherichia coli
,
Staphylococcus
spp.,
Streptococcus
spp.
and sulphite-reducing clostridia) from contact lesions in the tibiotarsal region
of 112 broiler carcasses, divided in four groups (n=28), accordingly to
the lesion’s intensity. There were no significant differences in
microbiological quantification among the groups (p>0.05) except for the
grade 3 group, as grade 1 and 2 lesions were in the early stages and
histopathological changes such as ulceration were not observed. In grade 3
lesion group, it was observed bacterial cocci grume and ulceration at the
articular region and significantly higher microbiological count (p<0.05)
for
E. coli
and
Staphylococcus
spp. In
conclusion, the visual standard proposed in this work, correlated and confirmed
by the histopathologic, and microbiologic characterization, allows to precise
and fast ascertainment of the contact lesion grade in the tibiotarsal regions of
broiler carcasses. Moreover, it should be highlighted that grades 1 and 2
alterations are not caused by an inflammatory process caused by pathogenic
agents and should not be considered a public health risk.
Countries have different official programs and implement different sampling methods for the detection of Salmonella on poultry carcasses. In Brazil, a 25-g sample of skin and muscle excision (SME) from the wings, neck, and pericloacal parts is used; in the European Union (EU), a 25-g sample of neck skin (NSE) is used; and, in the United States, the whole carcass is rinsed with 400 ml of diluent (WCR). In the present study, these methods were evaluated to compare Salmonella occurrence and counts of hygiene indicator microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, and total viable count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria) using different carcasses from the same flock and also using different analytical units taken from the same carcass. Eighty flocks, with four broiler carcasses from each, were included in this study; three broilers were sampled according to protocols from Brazil, the EU, and the United States, and the last one by all three methods. SME, NSE, and WCR provided equivalent results (P > 0.05) for Salmonella detection on broiler carcasses when using different carcasses from the same flock and when using the same carcass. The predominant serovar was Salmonella Enteritidis. For the enumeration of hygiene indicator microorganisms, WRC provided higher counts than SME or NSE (P < 0.05), when using both the same or different carcasses. Therefore, it is possible to directly compare Salmonella results in poultry carcasses when using the methods recommended by the legislative bodies of Brazil, the United States, and the EU. However, WCR provides the best results for hygiene indicator microorganisms.
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Article Type Short CommunicationsArticle Title Macroscopic, histological, and microbiological characterization of contact lesions at the tibiotarsal region of broilers Running Title (within 10 words)Characterization of contact lesions in the tibiotarsal region of broilers
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