Where should the effort be put to reduce the Salmonella prevalence in the slaughtered swine carcass effectively?

Abstract

Infection with Salmonella Typhimurium is seldom associated with clinical disease in pigs. However, control is important as the public is concerned about the human health impact. The producers, the abattoirs and the authorities are interested in implementing procedures to mitigate this risk. To evaluate the effect of different procedures, a stochastic risk model was developed to simulate the prevalence of Salmonella infection during the production process from the live pig on the farm, to the final carcass. This paper describes the model and findings of simulating different control scenarios. The variables with maximum effect on the Salmonella prevalence on the final carcass were (1) number of herds with a high prevalence of Salmonella, (2) singeing efficiency, (3) contamination and cross-contamination at degutting and (4) cross-contamination during handling. However, improvement of any single factor in isolation had a limited impact upon the level of contamination. The largest reduction was observed when several factors were improved concurrently.