Salmonella on feces, hides and carcasses in beef slaughter facilities in Venezuela
Introduction
Developing countries are affected by a wide range of foodborne diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 1.5 billion episodes of diarrhea occur every year in developing countries, resulting in 3 million deaths (Alper, 2003). In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pan-American Institute for Food Protection and Zoonosis (INPPAZ) reported 5283 outbreaks of foodborne disease that affected 174,976 persons and caused 275 deaths between the years 1995 and 2001 (Franco et al., 2003). More recently data collected for Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) on developing countries indicated that 9180 foodborne outbreaks were reported from the years 1993 to 2010 from 22 countries of the region, from these outbreaks 69% were caused by bacteria, 9.7% by viruses, 9.5% by marine toxins, 2.5% by chemical contaminants, 1.8% by parasites and 0.5% by vegetal toxins and among bacteria, Salmonella spp. was the most frequent agent (Pires et al., 2012), being responsible for 58.1% of the outbreaks and 66.2% of the cases (Franco et al., 2003). Among Salmonella serovars circulating in Latin America and the Caribbean, Campos et al. (2012) reported that Salmonella ser. Typhi, Salmonella ser. Typhimurium and Salmonella ser. Enteritidis were the more frequent serovar isolates from human infections in six countries of the region (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile and Paraguay). In Venezuela, few studies have been conducted to date on the detection of Salmonella spp. in the beef production chain. Nava (2005) screened 15 dual purpose cattle farms (n = 1463), recovering Salmonella in all of them, with a prevalence that ranged between 1.1% and 55.7%. In beef products, Narváez-Bravo et al. (2005) reported high Salmonella prevalence in ingredients (45%) and during beef patty process (up to 66%), and seven Salmonella serotypes were reported (Scharzengrund, Braenderup, Sintorf, London, Anatum, Tennessee and Derby). Regrettably, publications addressing the prevalence of Salmonella in the beef cattle harvest process in Venezuela do not exist according to the authors' knowledge.
Nevertheless, in developed countries, the prevalence of Salmonella shedding at feedlots is well documented, as are the dynamics of carcass contamination during the slaughter process, and the specific locations for distribution of pathogens on the carcass (Bell, 1997, Fegan et al., 2005). The ability to consistently identify patterns of contamination on carcasses in processing plants enables the implementation of interventions that target high contamination areas and results in further reduction of pathogens in the beef supply (Rekow et al., 2011). This type of information is lacking in Venezuela, and as a consequence, the establishment of pathogen reduction interventions is unusual at beef processing facilities even though, Venezuelan food regulations establish zero tolerance for Salmonella in beef (COVENIN, 1988). Also it is important to mention that the implementation of food safety programs, such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, is not required by law in this country. Therefore, it is important to generate scientific data that will lead to a further understanding of the dynamics of carcass contamination during the slaughter process that will help to develop mitigation strategies for pathogen reduction by the government and industry in order to better address the risks of Salmonella contamination.
Furthermore, the objective of this research was to determine the Salmonella prevalence in feces, hides and carcasses during the slaughter processes in three distinct slaughter plants located in Venezuela.
Section snippets
Experimental design
This study was carried out in three distinct abattoirs in the western region of Venezuela. The abattoirs were referred to as A, B and C, which kill an average of 900, 300 and 150 animals daily, respectively. The animals slaughtered in these three abattoirs originated in the main beef production regions of Venezuela and represented different breeds (crossbred Bos indicus × Bos taurus), sex classes (bulls, steers, heifers and cows) and ages (1–11 years). Their diets consisted mainly of grazed
Salmonella detection on hide and fecal samples
The overall prevalence of Salmonella on hides and intestinal feces is shown in Table 1. Positive samples for Salmonella were greater on hides than on feces (P = 0.001, 36.7% vs. 13.8%; respectively). However, when a comparison was made among the slaughter plants on hides and fecal samples (Fig. 1), there was no statistical difference (P = 0.8 and P = 0.1; respectively) with the exception of intestinal feces' prevalence observed in Plant A, as the animals from this plant showed lower Salmonella
Conclusions
Comparing the prevalence obtained in the current study with the international data, the prevalence found in this research can be considered to range from low to intermediate. The data demonstrates that the feces and hides of these animals were the major sources of Salmonella beef carcass contamination.
The data not only demonstrates the variation in the incoming Salmonella loads on cattle hides and feces, but also illustrates the differences among plants and their abilities to prevent cross
Acknowledgment
This research was possible through the support of the CONDES (Consejo de Desarrollo Cientifico y Humanistico de la Universidad del Zulia) and the microbiology laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zulia. A special thanks to all of the slaughter plants which collaborated and supported the research team during sample collection.
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