Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes detection on pre-chill pig carcasses / Detecção de Salmonella enterica e Listeria monocytogenes em carcaças suínas na etapa de pré-resfriamento

ABSTRACT

Background: Salmonellosis is one of the most prevalent foodborne diseases worldwide. Although listeriosis has been quite less reported, it is considered a major public health hazard due to the severity of symptoms caused in humans. Previous studies demonstrated that the genus Listeria and Salmonella can be found infecting pigs in Brazil, however there are yet few reports about their isolation from carcasses after the slaughtering process. From this, the aims of this study were to investigate the presence of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes on pre-chill pig carcasses and to evaluate the presence of fecal carriers at the lairage.Materials, Methods & Results: Two sampling events were conducted in each of three slaughterhouses located in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In each sampling event, pen feces from pigs belonging to three slaughter batches originated from different farms were collected. Thereafter, swabs were taken on the surface (loin, jowls, belly and ham) of 42 carcasses belonging to the same pig batches sampled at the lairage. All samples were submitted to a protocol for isolation of S. enterica and L. monocytogenes. Moreover, coliforms were enumerated in the samples taken from the carcasses. From a total of 18 samples of pen feces, 83.3% (15/18) were positive for S. enterica. The genus Listeria was isolated from 66.7% (12/18) of pen feces sample

RESUMO

Background: Salmonellosis is one of the most prevalent foodborne diseases worldwide. Although listeriosis has been quite less reported, it is considered a major public health hazard due to the severity of symptoms caused in humans. Previous studies demonstrated that the genus Listeria and Salmonella can be found infecting pigs in Brazil, however there are yet few reports about their isolation from carcasses after the slaughtering process. From this, the aims of this study were to investigate the presence of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes on pre-chill pig carcasses and to evaluate the presence of fecal carriers at the lairage.Materials, Methods & Results: Two sampling events were conducted in each of three slaughterhouses located in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In each sampling event, pen feces from pigs belonging to three slaughter batches originated from different farms were collected. Thereafter, swabs were taken on the surface (loin, jowls, belly and ham) of 42 carcasses belonging to the same pig batches sampled at the lairage. All samples were submitted to a protocol for isolation of S. enterica and L. monocytogenes. Moreover, coliforms were enumerated in the samples taken from the carcasses. From a total of 18 samples of pen feces, 83.3% (15/18) were positive for S. enterica. The genus Listeria was isolated from 66.7% (12/18) of pen feces sample