Animal production, animal health and food safety: Gaps and challenges in the Chilean industry

October 22, 2018
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This paper summarizes the gaps and challenges related to animal production, health, and food safety as discussed by a panel at the 1st International Symposium of Food Safety (ISFS) in Santiago, Chile, in December 2016. Participating representatives of academia, industry, and government and statements from the audience confirmed that food safety is essential for increasing…

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Vaccination against Lawsonia intracellularis decreases shedding of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in co-infected pigs and alters the gut microbiome

February 12, 2018
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Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium continues to be a major cause of foodborne illness worldwide and pork can serve as a source of infection. Co-infection of S. enterica with Lawsonia intracellularis, a common intestinal pathogen of swine, has been found as risk factor for increased S. enterica shedding. The objective of this study was to investigate…

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Quantitative risk assessment of antimicrobial-resistant foodborne infections in humans due to recombinant bovine somatotropin usage in dairy cows

June 2, 2017
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Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) is a production-enhancing technology that allows the dairy industry to produce milk more efficiently. Concern has been raised that cows supplemented with rbST are at an increased risk of developing clinical mastitis, which would potentially increase the use of antimicrobial agents and increase human illnesses associated with antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens delivered…

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Changes in the porcine intestinal microbiome in response to infection with Salmonella enterica and Lawsonia intracellularis

October 20, 2015
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Salmonella enterica is a leading cause of food borne illness. Recent studies have shown that S. enterica is a pathogen capable of causing alterations to the composition of the intestinal microbiome. A recent prospective study of French pork production farms found a statistically significant association between Lawsonia intracellularis and carriage of S. enterica. In the…

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Urinary tract infections attributed to diverse ExPEC strains in food animals: Evidence and data gaps

September 17, 2015
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Between 70 and 95% of urinary tract infections (UTI) are caused by strains of Escherichia coli. These strains, often termed Extraintestinal Pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC), possess specific virulence traits allowing them to colonize more inhospitable environments, such as the urogenital tract. Some ExPEC isolates from humans have similar virulence factor profiles to ExPEC isolates from…

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Effects of tylosin administration on C-reactive protein concentration and carriage of Salmonella enterica in pigs

September 17, 2014
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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of tylosin on C-reactive protein concentration, carriage of Salmonella enterica, and antimicrobial resistance genes in commercial pigs. ANIMALS: 120 pigs on 2 commercial farms. PROCEDURES: A cohort of sixty 10-week-old pigs in 4 pens/farm (15 pigs/pen) was randomly selected. Equal numbers of pigs were given feed containing tylosin (40 μg/g…

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Enumeration of Salmonella and Campylobacter in environmental farm samples and processing plant carcass rinses from commercial broiler chicken flocks

September 17, 2013
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  A prospective cohort study was performed to evaluate the prevalences and loads of Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. in farm and processing plant samples collected from 55 commercial broiler chicken flocks. Environmental samples were collected from broiler houses within 48 h before slaughter, and carcass rinses were performed on birds from the same flocks at…

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Microbial shifts in the swine distal gut in response to the treatment with antimicrobial growth promoter, tylosin

September 17, 2012
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Antimicrobials have been used extensively as growth promoters (AGPs) in agricultural animal production. However, the specific mechanism of action for AGPs has not yet been determined. The work presented here was to determine and characterize the microbiome of pigs receiving one AGP, tylosin, compared with untreated pigs. We hypothesized that AGPs exerted their growth promoting…

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The direct relationship between animal health and food safety outcomes

September 17, 2012
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The health of the animals within the food animal production system impacts many aspects of the system far removed from the animals themselves. To promote high productivity in animal agriculture, researchers need to examine nutrition, management systems, and animal care practices including the use of antibiotics and vaccines. This Commentary looks at the pressures to…

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Longitudinal investigation of the age-related bacterial diversity in the feces of commercial pigs

September 17, 2011
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The importance of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tracts of animals is widely acknowledged as important. However, very little is known about composition and distribution of the microbial population in lower intestinal tracts of animals. Because most bacterial species in pig intestines have not been cultured, it has been difficult to analyze bacterial diversity by conventional…

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Horizontal gene transfer of a ColV plasmid has resulted in a dominant avian clonal type of Salmonella enterica serovar Kentucky

September 17, 2010
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Salmonella enterica continues to be a significant cause of foodborne gastrointestinal illness in humans. A wide variety of Salmonella serovars have been isolated from production birds and from retail poultry meat. Recently, though, S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Kentucky has emerged as one of the prominent Salmonella serovars isolated from broiler chickens. Recent work suggests…

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Do microbial interactions and cultivation media decrease the accuracy of Salmonella surveillance systems and outbreak investigations?

September 17, 2009
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Cultivation methods are commonly used in Salmonella surveillance systems and outbreak investigations, and consequently, conclusions about Salmonella evolution and transmission are highly dependent on the performance characteristics of these methods. Past studies have shown that Salmonella serotypes can exhibit different growth characteristics in the same enrichment and selective media. This could lead not only to…

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Modeling the relationship between food animal health and human foodborne illness

September 17, 2007
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To achieve further reductions in foodborne illness levels in humans, effective pre-harvest interventions are needed. The health status of food animals that are destined to enter the human food supply chain may be an important, although often overlooked, factor in predicting the risk of human foodborne infections. The health status of food animals can potentially…

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