Quantifying the sources of Salmonella on dressed carcasses of pigs based on serovar distribution

Abstract

Salmonella serotyping data, qualitatively described by van Hoek et al. (2012), were used to quantify potential sources of Salmonella in a Dutch pig slaughterhouse. Statistical tests to compare per-day Salmonella prevalence and serotyping data from multiple points in the chain were used to find transmission pathways. A statistical model based on serotyping data was developed to attribute Salmonella on dressed carcasses to the most likely source. Approximately two-third of dressed carcasses carrying Salmonella on the medial surface had been contaminated by house flora. For carcasses carrying Salmonella on the distal surface, transient Salmonella from incoming pigs was a more important source. The relevance of the different sources of Salmonella varied within and between sampling days. Results were compared to those of another modeling approach, in which Salmonella concentration data from the same samples were used (Smid et al., 2012). They mostly agreed. The approach chosen by an individual slaughterhouse depends on the data that are collected.