Epidemiologic Investigation of Highly Pathogenic H5N2 Avian Influenza Among Upper Midwest U.S. Turkey Farms, 2015.

In 2015, an outbreak of H5N2 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) occurred in the United States, severely impacting the turkey industry in the upper midwestern United States. Industry, government, and academic partners worked together to conduct a case-control investigation of the outbreak on turkey farms in the Upper Midwest. Case farms were confirmed to have HPAI-infected flocks, and control farms were farms with noninfected turkey flocks at a similar stage of production. Both case and control farms were affiliated with a large integrated turkey company. A questionnaire administered to farm managers and supervisors assessed farm biosecurity, litter handling, dead bird disposal, farm visitor and worker practices, and presence of wild birds on operations during the 2 wk prior to HPAI confirmation on case premises and the corresponding time frame for control premises. Sixty-three farms, including 37 case farms and 26 control farms were included in the analysis. We identified several factors significantly associated with the odds of H5N2 case farm status and that may have contributed to H5N2 transmission to and from operations. Factors associated with increased risk included close proximity to other turkey operations, soil disruption (e.g., tilling) in a nearby field within 14 days prior to the outbreak, and rendering of dead birds. Observation of wild mammals near turkey barns was associated with reduced risk. When analyses focused on farms identified with H5N2 infection before April 22 (Period 1), associations with H5N2-positive farm status included soil disruption in a nearby field within 14 days prior to the outbreak and a high level of visitor biosecurity. High level of worker biosecurity had a protective effect. During the study period after April 22 (Period 2), factors associated with HPAI-positive farm status included nonasphalt roads leading to the farm and use of a vehicle wash station or spray area. Presence of wild birds near dead bird disposal areas was associated with reduced risk. Study results indicated that the initial introduction and spread of H5N2 virus likely occurred by both environmental and between-farm pathways. Transmission dynamics appeared to change with progression of the outbreak. Despite enhanced biosecurity protocols, H5N2 transmission continued, highlighting the need to review geographic/topologic factors such as farm proximity and potential dust or air transmission associated with soil disruption. It is likely that biosecurity improvements will reduce the extent and speed of spread of future outbreaks, but our results suggest that environmental factors may also play a significant role in farms becoming infected with HPAI.

The effects of antemortem electrical stunning and postmortem electrical stimulation on biochemical and textural properties of broiler breast meat.

Experiments were conducted to determine the combined effects of antemortem electrical stunning (STUN) and postmortem electrical stimulation (STIM) on breast muscle rigor development and meat quality attributes. Birds were either unstunned, stunned with low voltage (LV), or stunned with high current (HC) prior to conventional killing. Immediately after exsanguination, birds were either unstimulated, or were subjected to electrical stimulation with 12 1s on/1s off pulses of 440 V AC and allowed to bleed for 90 s to determine the effect of treatment on blood loss. Breast fillets (Pectoralis major) were removed from carcasses immediately after evisceration (0.25 h) or after aging in a static ice-water slush for 1 or 2 h, and analyzed for muscle pH, R-value (ratio of inosine to adenosine nucleotides), and sarcomere length. Raw breast meat color (CIELAB), cook loss, and shear values were determined on samples held at 2 C for 24 h. Results showed both STUN and STIM significantly affected blood loss, pH, R-value, sarcomere length, color, and shear, and there were significant STUN by STIM interactions. Blood loss was significantly lower for the HC STUN and all the STIM treatments. STIM at 440 V resulted in accelerated rigor development as measured by pH, R-value, and sarcomere length, similar to the unstunned or LV STUN samples, but different from the HC STUN birds. These results indicate that electrical stimulation may accelerate rigor most effectively following high current stunning, which tends to delay early rigor development.

The influence of temperature on broiler breast muscle shortening and extensibility.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the influence of temperature on muscle shortening and extensibility in broiler breast muscle (Pectoralis major). The extent of prerigor muscle shortening has been shown to affect the ultimate tenderness of meat, whereas a decrease in extensibility has traditionally been used to define rigor mortis in muscle. Muscle shortening over time was determined at three incubation temperatures: 0, 23, and 41 C. Shortening was measured on intact and excised muscles, as well as on muscle strips with and without attached weight (200 g). The time a muscle strip needed to reach loss of extensibility was also determined at each of the three incubation temperatures. The intact and excised muscles showed some evidence of both cold and rigor (hot) shortening. No extreme shortening effects were found in the muscle strips incubated with or without attached weight. The use of muscle strips to predict intact muscle or excised whole muscle shortening in a complex muscle such as poultry Pectoralis may be limited. The time required to loss of extensibility of the muscle strips, i.e., rigor completion, was 5.5, 4.5, and 0.8 h at 0, 23, and 41 C, respectively. The results show that cold-induced shortening may contribute to toughening of early deboned broiler breast muscle, but its impact on commercial processing and subsequent meat tenderness does not appear to be consistent.

The effects of stunning amperage and deboning time on early rigor development and breast meat quality of broilers.

Two trials were conducted to determine the effects of stunning amperage on the early rigor development and quality of broiler breast meat. In each trial, 108 broilers were killed either without stunning or following constant amperage stunning at 50 or 125 mA. The breast muscles (Pectoralis major) were removed from the carcasses at 0.2, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 24 h post-mortem. Breast muscle pH and R-value (inosine to adenosine nucleotide ratio) were determined immediately upon deboning on one side of each carcass. After aging the deboned breast fillets for 48 h, cook loss and Allo-Kramer shear values were determined on the opposite side. Stunning at 50 or 125 mA resulted in significantly higher muscle pH values up to 6 h post-mortem, after which there were no further significant differences. Stunning at 50 and 125 mA resulted in significantly lower R-values up to 6 h post-mortem. Stunning had no effect on cook loss. Stunning at 125 mA resulted in significantly tougher meat up to 10 h post-mortem than meat from unstunned birds or birds stunned at 50 mA. These results indicate that the delayed onset of rigor, as measured by muscle pH and R-value, noted in electrically stunned birds lasts for approximately 4 to 6 h, after which differences due to stunning disappear.

Effect of stunning amperage on broiler breast muscle rigor development and meat quality.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of constant amperage (as opposed to constant voltage) electrical stunning on broiler blood loss, post-mortem breast muscle (Pectoralis major) rigor development, and breast meat quality. Broilers were individually stunned for 5 s at 0 (unstunned control group), 50, 100, 150, and 200 mA in Experiment 1 and at 0, 50, and 125 mA in Experiment 2. Breast muscle pH and R-value (ratio of adenosine to inosine nucleotides) were determined at 15 min and 24 h post-mortem; breast meat shear value and color were determined at 48 h post-mortem. Stunning amperage had no effect on percentage blood loss in either experiment. The most rapid post-mortem reactions were observed for the unstunned control group as determined by pH and R-value at 15 min post-mortem. Birds stunned with 50 mA were intermediate with regard to rate of rigor development. The slowest post-mortem reactions occurred in broilers stunned from 100 to 200 mA. There were no differences in pH, R-value, or color between stunning treatments after carcasses were aged for 24 h. Stunning amperage did not affect Allo-Kramer shear value for breast muscles deboned at 15 min post-mortem. In Experiment 2, 24 h aged breast meat from broilers stunned with 125 mA required significantly higher shear value (4.5 kg/g) than breast meat from broilers stunned at 0 or 50 mA (3.8 and 3.6 kg/g, respectively). Results indicate that stunning amperages between 0 and 200 mA had effects on the rate of early rigor development but there were no consistent effects on final breast meat quality.

Effect of electrical stunning amperage and peri-mortem struggle on broiler breast rigor development and meat quality.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of electrical stunning and peri-mortem muscle activity (struggle in and around the time of slaughter) on post-mortem biochemical reactions in broiler breast muscle (Pectoralis major). Broilers were stunned with either 50 or 125 mA or were killed without stunning. In Experiment 1 (n = 273), broilers were either physically restrained to reduce struggling during slaughter or were unrestrained and allowed to struggle freely. Breast mean pH and R-value (ratio of adenosine to inosine nucleotides) were determined at 15 min and 24 h post-mortem, and Allo-Kramer shear was determined on 48 h post-mortem cooked meat samples from muscles excised at 15 min or 24 h. In Experiment 2 (n = 65), the breast muscle was unilaterally denervated by surgically severing the Pectoralis nerve on one side and performing a sham operation on the contralateral side. Results indicated that physical restraint resulted in higher muscle pH and lower R-values at 15 min post-mortem in the unstunned birds and birds stunned at 50 mA, but had no effect on breast meat from birds stunned at 125 mA. There were no treatment effects on meat tenderness or 24-h post-mortem pH or R-values. Stunning amperage had no effect on denervated muscle pH at 15 min post-mortem, but did affect the sham-operated muscle pH and R-values as in Experiment 1. These results indicate that the main effect of electrical stunning on early rigor development may be due primarily to inhibition of peri-mortem struggle.