Suitability of a Salmonella control programme based on serology in slaughter heavy pigs.
The key component of most European pig Salmonella control programmes is the classification of herds according to seroprevalence at slaughter. The objectives of this study were to estimate the true Salmonella seroprevalence, and investigate the association between the true status of infection and serology in slaughter heavy pigs. Blood of 3340 pigs was collected and tested with ELISA. From 385 pigs, also lymph nodes and cecal content were collected for bacteriology. Analysis was performed in a Bayesian framework. Results showed that a large proportion of pigs was serologically positive (herd seroprevalence 93% and within-herd seroprevalence higher than 81% in half of herds at cut-off 10 OD%). The association between the true status of infection and serology was not significant, and therefore the classification of heavy pig herds according to seroprevalence at slaughter would not be suitable to reduce the risk of introducing Salmonella into the food chain.
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Matteo
M
Gradassi
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Electronic address: antonino.caminiti@izsler.it.
Antonino
A
Caminiti
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Giorgio
G
Galletti
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Annalisa
A
Santi
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Giulia
G
Paternoster
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Marco
M
Tamba
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Mariagrazia
M
Zanoni
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Silvia
S
Tagliabue
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Giovanni Loris
GL
Alborali
Università degli Studi di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Italy.
Marcello
M
Trevisani
D000003:Abattoirs / Q000592:standards*; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000382:microbiology; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*
Heavy pigs; Salmonella; Seroprevalence