The effect of source herd and abattoir factors on pig carcass Salmonella contamination evaluated by multilevel modelling

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperResearch

In Denmark, a Surveillance-and-Control Programme for Salmonella in pigs has been in place for several years. This study investigated factors associated with Salmonella pig carcass contamination, namely estimated daily number of Salmonella seropositive pigs delivered to slaughter, average Salmonella seroprevalence of the source herds that delivered each of five pigs contributing to the pool, weekday, year, season and abattoir size. A total of 20128 pooled carcass swabs collected in 22 Danish abattoirs, from 2002 to 2008, were included in a multilevel logistic regression model.

Study results indicate that the probability of Salmonella positive carcasses is mainly influenced by the Salmonella herd seroprevalence of the swabbed pigs, the number of seropositive pigs delivered to the abattoir on the same day and weekday. Further reduction in carcass pool Salmonella prevalence may require new or improved methods, such as abattoir hygiene, logistic slaughter and decontamination, adjusting for the Danish herd and abattoir structure.

Original languageEnglish
Publication date2010
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 2010

ID: 37742477