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Bulletin No. 26 - Fall 2006
MiscelleanousFood safety
COLAVITA G, VERGARA A, IANIERI A
Deferment of slaughtering in swine affected by cutaneous erysipelas.
Meat Science, 2006, Volume 72, Nº2, 203-205
At the slaughterhouse, erysipelas may be identified during the antemortem or the postmortem inspection. In the last case, carcasses with erysipelas must be destroyed while in the first case the slaughter of suspected animals is to be deferred. However, though the treatment of carcasses and pigs with erysipelas has been set by the European Union (European Regulation nº2004/854 on the specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption), the regulation does not specify for how long slaughter should be postponed. This study included 24 pigs showing cutaneous erysipelas at antemortem inspection. Three groups of 8 pigs were constituted and respectively slaughtered after 10, 15 or 20 days. A wide panel of tissue samples were collected and investigated for the presence of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. According to the authors, pigs found affected by erysipelas at antemortem inspection should be slaughtered after at least 15 days from the resolution of typical lesions in order to ensure a good level of safety to the meat and minimize hazards for veterinarians, slaughterhouse workers and meat processors.
