The 9th International Conference on the Epidemiology and Control of Foodborne Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance in Pigs and Pork – known as Safe Pork 2011 will take place in Maastricht on 19 to 22 June 2011.

Aim of the conference

Aim of this conference is the exchange of knowledge between researchers en representatives of authorities and industry who are active in the field of zoonoses and food safety in relation to pigs and pork.

Conference participant will come from all over the world. Food safety involves bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens as well as chemical contaminants including residues from antimicrobials and other contaminants and antimicrobial resistances in both pathogens and commensal flora. Not only presence on or in meat in of importance but the control in the entire feed to food chain. Zoonoses involve both those that are transferred by meat consumption and those that are transmitted by direct contact to live animals. Here also all links of the feed to food chain are important.

The organisers explicitly want to open this conference to all methods that illustrate these risks and contribute to the control of these risks. This also involves methods, management changes or alternative for antimicrobials that can contribute to the reduced use of antimicrobials and zoonoses. Finally, interventions to protect people working in the pork production chain will also be covered.

History

The conference in 2011 will be the ninth conference in a row that started in Ames, Iowa, in the USA with a conference on Salmonella in pigs and pork. Because this conference clearly satisfied a need for the exchange of knowledge on this subject, it was decided to organise the next conference in Copenhagen, Denmark two years later. Since then, every two years, conferences have been organized in Washington DC (US), Leipzig (DE), Crete (GR), Sonoma Valley (California, US), Verona (II) and last year in Québec, Canada.

From the beginning in Ames the conference has grown into a conference that was attended by more that 200 persons from all over the world and next to Salmonella many subjects in the field of food safety in pigs and pork have been presented. Amongst others, this conference has been the place where the EU SALINPORK programme has been presented. In 2009, among many other subjects, the first results of investigations on MRSA were presented.

What makes this conference special is that it is focused on pigs and pork and zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance and all research field with these scopes will be addressed within one conference in plenary sessions without parallel sessions. This gives participants the opportunity to learn about all aspects of food safety within the pork production chain. This is seen as a big advantage by the participants because underlying connections and cooperation become clear and are stimulated. Because there are too many requests for an oral presentation for each conference, there will also be poster presentations. Participants who visit and help to organize other conferences rate the SafePork conferences with a high scientific value.

Subjects

• Zoonoses (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Toxoplasma, Trichinella, MRSA, ESBL's, Clostridium difficile, etc.)
• Contaminants, residues of antimicrobials
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Methods to reduce the use of antimicrobials (vaccines, management, etc.)
• HACCP and GMP
• Production chain integration
• Risk analysis, management and communication
• Economic evaluation of zoonotic pathogens or interventions
• Epidemiology
• Interventions including carcass decontamination, cleaning and disinfection, alternatives to antimicrobials, management changes, etc.
• National monitoring and control programs
• Consumer education, perception and behaviour
• All these issues within the pork production chain from feed to food.

Participants

• Researchers in the fields mentioned above
• Representatives from local, national and federal of EU authorities with an interest in this field
• Representatives from industries active in this field, e.g. feed manufacturers, herd owners or representative from pig production integrations, vets, transport companies, slaughterhouses and meat processing operations, supplying industries like feed supplement suppliers, cleaning and disinfectant substances, pharmaceutical companies.
• About 250 – between 200 and maximum of 325 – from all countries.

Date and duration of the conference

SafePork will be held on 19 to 22 June 2011. Conference days will be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The previous Sunday can be used for travel.

Three days with satellite workshops, and industry visits organised on the preceding or following days.

Transfer of knowledge

During the conference oral presentations will be given by selected speakers and poster presentations will be available. Proceedings will be made available containing short scientific articles about these presentations. These proceedings will be distributed on either CD-ROM of USB-stick and through the SafePork web site after the conference. Additionally there will be workshops and industry visits (before or after the conference). During the conference there will be room available for industry partners to present themselves.

Organisation

An organising committee will be formed consisting of eight to 10 people with relevant experience and/or knowledge in organizing conferences. The organising committee will work together with the European College of Porcine Health Management, the Association of specialist in Veterinary Public Health from The Netherlands and the GIQS-association in Bonn. A scientific committee will be formed consisting of leading researchers in this field from all over the world.

Conference location

The conference will take place in Maastricht in The Netherlands, close to the German-Belgian-Dutch boarder. Maastricht can easily be reached because there are several airport in its proximity and there is a high-speed train connection to the airport of Saventem near Brussels. Maastricht is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and the old inner city has lots of character. The conference will take place in the Bonbonnière, an old theatre that possesses great charm. The Bonbonnière is situated within the old inner city enabling conference participant to enjoy the atmosphere of the inner city at most. Maastricht has a great variety of hotels in a broad price range and at different levels of luxury.

Accompanying persons

There will not be a special programme for accompanying persons. However, the SafePork web site will offer lots of suggestions to spend the days during the conference in a most pleasant way in and around Maastricht.

Financing

Conference participants will pay for the participation in this conference and their travel and hotel expenses during the conference. Companies and organisations interested in sponsoring this conference or presenting your corporation/business at this conference are invited to visit the SafePork web site www.safepork.org under 'Sponsorship' or click here.

Further Reading

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You can find out more about SafePork 2011 by clicking here.