Agricultural Holdings and Slaughterhouses’ Impact on Patterns of Pathological Findings Observed during Post-Mortem Meat Inspection

Abstract

Meat inspection data can provide valuable information about herd health to producers, veterinarians and veterinary authorities and can be used as a feedback system for farmers to improve their herd management. The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of agricultural holdings, slaughterhouses and time periods (quarters) on the occurrence and composition of the prevalence of post-mortem findings of 4 million pigs slaughtered in Austria in 2016, by applying a permutation multivariate analysis of variance. Pneumonia (21.9%) and milk spots (19.9%) were the most frequently recorded conditions. Our analysis indicated a statistically significant influence of all three considered factors (agricultural holdings, slaughterhouses and periods) on the prevalence of post-mortem findings. The observed prevalence could not only be explained by the differences between the farms of origin and slaughterhouses but also by the variability within the slaughterhouses. Much of the explained variance of the prevalence was due to differences between producers (mean R2 = 0.61), followed by slaughterhouses (mean R2 = 0.19) and period (mean R2 = 0.05). To meet the demand for a valid feedback system to farmers and attending veterinarians, a robust and ideally more detailed recording of frequent pathologies, especially those affecting the respiratory tract and the liver, should be developed.

Associations of carcass weight and trimming loss with cull dairy cow health observations collected at slaughter.

“…With a large dataset (n=592,268) of Dutch slaughter cows, the association of post-mortem health observations with carcass weight and trimming loss (exceeding 5 kg) were determined. In our model, random herd effect explained around 20 percent of total variation in carcass weight, which is less compared to Klinger et al. (2021) .…”

Stochastic partial budget analysis of strategies to reduce the prevalence of lung lesions in finishing pigs at slaughter

“…Impact analysis of the simulation models for the two strategies revealed that a higher prevalence of lung lesions if not adopting one of the strategies was the main factor determining the net benefit change on-farm. With the increasing prevalence of lung lesions (10), adopting an effective strategy to decrease respiratory infections will become more relevant and more economically beneficial. The results presented here can be used to support pig producers in choosing cost-effective management strategies to reduce the prevalence of lung lesions at slaughter by improving animal health and welfare.…”

“…The incidence of pleurisy and pneumonia at slaughter has increased globally in the past two decades (10) and the high prevalence of lung lesions and associated negative impacts on farm economics are a known issue (11). Since the prevalence of lung lesions in pigs depends on both infectious agents and environmental factors [e.g., air quality, production system, flooring type, number of pigs per pen and direct contact (nose-to-nose) between infected and susceptible pigs (11)], strategies to improve animal health, working environment and farm finances need to be implemented.…”

Additional post-mortem inspection procedures and laboratory methods as supplements for visual meat inspection of finishing pigs in Europe—Use and variability

“…Alban et al (2022) detected differences in the number of available codes, code terminology, and frequency of meat inspection findings in European countries. Klinger et al (2021) showed differences between and within slaughterhouses on the observed prevalence of meat inspection findings. Within a slaughterhouse, differences between meat inspection decisions of detained carcasses were observed between meat inspection personnel (Arzoomand et al 2019).…”

“…For example, the prevalence of various diseases in different countries affects which palpations and incisions are needed in each country. Recent studies have shown systemic variations in meat inspection between countries (Alban et al 2022), within countries (Klinger et al 2021) and at individual inspector level within a slaughterhouse (Arzoomand et al 2019). Alban et al (2022) detected differences in the number of available codes, code terminology, and frequency of meat inspection findings in European countries.…”