Meat Juice Serology and Improved Food Chain Information as Control Tools for Pork‐Related Public Health Hazards

Abstract

The seroprevalence of Salmonella spp., pathogenic Yersinia spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Trichinella spp. was studied in 1353 finishing pigs from 259 farms that were allocated according to farm types: large fattening farms (≥ 1000 pig places), small fattening farms (< 1000 pig places) and farrow-to-finish farms. The antibodies were analysed with commercial ELISA kits in meat juice samples that were collected at Finnish slaughterhouses. Salmonella antibodies were rare (3% of pigs, 14% of farms) when the cut-off optical density (OD) value 0.2 was used. Antibodies to pathogenic Yersinia spp. and T. gondii were detected in 57% of pigs and 85% of farms (OD ≥ 0.3) and in 3% of pigs and 9% of farms (OD ≥ 0.15), respectively. No antibodies to Trichinella spp. were detected (OD ≥ 0.3). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considers Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, T. gondii and Trichinella spp. as the most relevant biological hazards in the context of meat inspection of pigs. The seroprevalence of these important zoonotic pathogens was low in Finland, except that of Yersinia. The seroprevalence of Toxoplasma was significantly higher in pigs originating from small-scale fattening farms (P < 0.05). Strong positive correlation was observed at the animal level between Salmonella and Yersinia seropositivity and between Salmonella and Toxoplasma seropositivity (P < 0.05). We suggest that these results reflect the level and importance of biosecurity measures applied on the farms. Meat juice serology at slaughter is a useful tool for targeting measures to control these pathogens. The information obtained from analyses should be used as part of the food chain information (FCI).

Current food chain information provides insufficient information for modern meat inspection of pigs

“…The main zoonotic pathogens do not yield gross pathological findings. Serological profiles are the way to control and monitor these risks rather than visual or traditional meat inspection (Felin et al, 2015). Serological profiles included in the FCI could help differentiate incoming slaughter batches in respect to the risk of main zoonotic pathogens.…”

“…A batch was considered positive when antibodies were detected in one or more of the samples. The serological analyses are described in detail in another publication by the authors (Felin et al, 2015). Table 1 describes in detail the data collected on the selected slaughter batches.…”

Cross-Sectional Study of Anti-Trichinella Antibody Prevalence in Domestic Pigs and Hunted Wild Boars in Estonia

“…This result is similar to several recent reported results from other European countries. No Trichinella-seropositive domestic pigs were found in Finland (Felin et al 2015). The Trichinella seroprevalence was estimated to be 0.12-0.35% in the Netherlands (Van der Giessen et al 2007) and 0.81-0.99% in Poland (Bien 2006(Bien , 2007.…”

Use of meat juice and blood serum with a miniaturised protein microarray assay to develop a multi-parameter IgG screening test with high sample throughput potential for slaughtering pigs

“…Official meat inspection procedures in the European Union are moving from a traditional, macroscopic examination of slaughtered animals towards a more risk based safety assurance system [21]. In view of this development, serological screening for zoonotic agents in pig herds is considered as a potential tool to improve food safety [2,3,22]. Felin et al [3] stated that the best timing for serological screening is at the end of the fattening period or at the abattoir.…”