Attachment strength to pork skin and resistance to quaternary ammonium salt and heat of Escherichia coli isolates recovered from a pork slaughter line

Modeling of Salmonella Contamination in the Pig Slaughterhouse

In this article we present a model for Salmonella contamination of pig carcasses in the slaughterhouse. This model forms part of a larger QMRA (quantitative microbial risk assessment) on Salmonella in slaughter and breeder pigs, which uses a generic model framework that can be parameterized for European member states, to describe the entire chain from farm-to-consumption and the resultant human illness. We focus on model construction, giving mathematical formulae to describe Salmonella concentrations on individual pigs and slaughter equipment at different stages of the slaughter process. Variability among individual pigs and over slaughterhouses is incorporated using statistical distributions, and simulated by Monte Carlo iteration. We present the results over the various slaughter stages and show that such a framework is especially suitable to investigate the effect of various interventions. In this article we present the results of the slaughterhouse module for two case study member states. The model outcome represents an increase in average prevalence of Salmonella contamination and Salmonella numbers at dehairing and a decrease of Salmonella numbers at scalding. These results show good agreement when compared to several other QMRAs and microbiological studies.

Resistant mechanism study of benzalkonium chloride selected Salmonella Typhimurium mutants

Benzalkonium chloride is one of the invaluable biocides that is extensively used in healthcare settings as well as in the food processing industry. After exposing wild-type Salmonella Typhimurium 14028s or its AcrAB inactivation mutant to gradually increasing levels of benzalkonium chloride, resistance mutants S-41, S-150, S-AB-23, S-AB-38, and S-AB-73 were selected and these mutants also showed a 2-64-fold stable minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) increase to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, and tetracycline. In S-41 and S-150, the expression of acrB was increased 2.7- and 7.6-fold, and ΔtolC or ΔacrAB mutants of S-41 and S-150 showed the same MICs to all tested antimicrobials as the equivalent Salmonella Typhimurium 14028s mutants. However, in S-AB-23, S-AB-38, and S-AB-73, the expression of acrF was increased 96-, 230-, and 267-fold, respectively, and ΔtolC or ΔacrEF mutants of S-AB-23, S-AB-38, and S-AB-73 showed the similar MICs to all tested antimicrobials as the ΔtolC mutant of Salmonella Typhimurium 14028s. Our data showed that constitutively over-expressed AcrAB working through TolC was the main resistance mechanism in ST14028s benzalkonium chloride resistance mutants. However, after AcrAB had been inactivated, benzalkonium chloride-resistant mutants could still be selected and constitutively over-expressed, AcrEF became the dominant efflux pump working through TolC and being responsible for the increasing antimicrobial resistance. These data indicated that different mechanisms existed for acrB and acrF constitutive over-expression. Since exposure to benzalkonium chloride may lead to Salmonella mutants with a decreased susceptibility to quinolones, which is currently one of the drugs of choice for the treatment of life-threatening salmonelosis, research into the pathogenesis and epidemiology of the benzalkonium chloride resistance mutants will be of increasing importance.

A biotracing model of Salmonella in the pork production chain

In biotracing systems, downstream chain information and model-based approaches are used to trace the sources of microbial contamination in a food chain. This article includes the results of a biotracing model for Salmonella in the pork slaughter process chain. A Bayesian belief network model was used in which information on the Salmonella level at different locations in the slaughterhouse were used in combination with prior knowledge about the dynamics of Salmonella throughout the slaughter line. Data collected in a Dutch slaughterhouse were used to specify prior beliefs about the model inputs and to iteratively refine the distributions of the parameters in the model to obtain an optimal description of that specific slaughterhouse. The primary purpose of the model is to trace the sources of contamination for individual Salmonella-positive carcasses at the end of the slaughter line. The model results indicated that house flora on or in the carcass splitter was the source of contamination for many carcasses, especially for those that carried contamination on the cutting side. The results also indicated that the parameter values of the model may be subject to temporal variation and can be used as a tool to provide estimates of such trends. This model illustrates the concept of biotracing, gives insight into the dynamics of Salmonella in the slaughter line, and indicates the sites in the line where data collection is most effective for biotracing. This biotracing model was implemented as an interactive computer application, which is a step in the process toward an operational biotracing system by which a stakeholder can initiate immediate responses to Salmonella contamination and other hazards in the pork slaughterhouse.