2. Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU

Salmonellosis remains one of the main foodborne zoonoses in Europe, with poultry products as the main source of human infections. The slaughterhouse has been identified as a potential source for Salmonella contamination of poultry meat. Despite the mandatory programme of the EU, there are companies with persistent Salmonella that are unable to remove the bacteria from their processing environment, compromising the entire production line. In this context, an intensive sampling study was conducted to investigate a slaughterhouse with persistent Salmonella problems, establishing the genetic relationship among Salmonella strains isolated during the slaughter process. A total of 36 broiler flocks were sampled during processing at the slaughterhouse. Salmonella was identified based on ISO 6579-1:2017 (Annex D), serotyped by Kauffman-White-Le-Minor technique, and the genetic relationship was assessed with ERIC-PCR followed by PFGE. The outcomes showed that 69.4% of the batches sampled carried Salmonella upon arrival at the slaughterhouse and that 46.3% of the different samples from carcasses were contaminated with Salmonella. The two serovars isolated at the different steps in the slaughterhouse were Enteritidis (98.2%) and Kentucky (1.8%). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis revealed a low genetic diversity, with all S. Enteritidis isolates showing a nearly identical pulsotype (similarity >85%) and S. Kentucky strains showed the same XbaI PFGE profile (95.0% genetic similarity). The results of this study showed a high genetic relationship among isolates recovered from carcasses and environmental samples in the slaughterhouse from both Salmonella-positive and Salmonella- free flocks. Salmonella strains re-circulated across to poultry flocks and re-entered the slaughterhouse to survive on the processing line. Thus, it is necessary to implement molecular diagnosis methods in time at the field level to determine the Salmonella epidemiology of the flock, to make rapid decisions for the control of Salmonella and prevent entry into the slaughterhouse environment.

Pork is considered a major source of Salmonella Typhimurium infection in humans in the EU, including monophasic strains. Widespread distribution of virulent serotypes such as monophasic variants of S. Typhimurium have emerged as a public health threat. Despite the current situation, within the EU there is no mandatory programme for the control of Salmonella at pork production level. In this context, the aims of this study were: to examine the presence of Salmonella in the swine production system from arrival at the slaughterhouse until the end of processing, and investigate the genetic relationship among the Salmonella serovars isolated. During the study, a total of 21 pig herds were intensively sampled during processing at the slaughterhouse. ERIC-PCR was performed among isolates recovered at the different steps in the slaughterhouse to assess the genetic relationship. Then, PFGE was done to study the pulsotypes among the different Salmonella serovars isolated. The results showed a high level of Salmonella pork batch contamination upon arrival at the slaughterhouse (71.4%) and at the end of the slaughtering process (66.7%), with mST the main serovar isolated from both origins (53.1% and 38.2%, respectively). The slaughter environment poses a potential risk for carcass contamination and it is considered an important source of Salmonella spp. Similarly, this study shows that 14.3% of the strains isolated from carcasses have the same Xbal-PFGE profile as those previously recovered in the slaughterhouse environment, but not in the live animals from that same batch. In conclusion, there is a high level of Salmonella swine batch contamination upon arrival at the slaughterhouse and at the end of the slaughtering process, mST being the most frequently isolated serovar. Moreover, a strong genetic relationship has been observed between Salmonella strains isolated from the batch on arrival at the slaughterhouse, the processing environment and pork carcass contamination. In this sense, it would be necessary to implement a control programme to reduce the bacterium from pork farms and raise the awareness of biosecurity measures.