Congenital cataracts in an Ayrshire herd: a herd case report

Background

Microbiological standards within pork slaughter processing plants in the European Union are currently governed by Commission Regulation (EC) 2073/2005, which describes detailed performance criteria at specific stages of the procedure (following carcass dressing and before chilling) for total viable counts (TVC), Enterobacteriaceae (EB) and Salmonella spp. In this study, 95 carcasses from an Irish pork slaughter plant were sampled by swabbing 100 cm² of surface at three sites (belly, ham, jowl) to examine the effects of eight processing stages (stunning, bleeding, scalding, singeing, polishing, evisceration, final inspection and chilling) on contamination levels.

Results

TVC ranged from approximately 1.7–6.3 log cfu cm² during sampling. There were significant reductions in TVC for all sites after scalding and singeing (p < 0.05), whilst there was a significant increase in counts after polishing and evisceration (p < 0.05) compared with preceding stages. EB counts indicated hygienic weak points in the examined slaughter plant leading to faecal (cross)-contamination, with elevated counts after stunning, bleeding and evisceration (p < 0.05), compared with final counts after chilling.

Conclusions

Although the bacterial numbers reported in this study may reflect specific plant practices and temporal influences, results show that contamination can be introduced at various steps in the process and highlight the importance of monitoring locations other than those required by legislation within the process. Monitoring can be used to establish baseline levels for high-risk stages specific to each plant and to assess the effectiveness of additional interventions.     

On-farm evaluation of three different hatchery sources of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) cultured in on-levee tanks in low-salinity waters of west Alabama

ABSTRACT

Shrimp farmers in Alabama who produce the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, have recently reported abnormally low survival at harvest. Farmers have hypothesized that this phenomenon may be due to disease, toxic algae, shrimp source, or reduced shrimp robustness in later stages of production. To compare performance of shrimp from different sources, postlarvae were obtained from three different hatcheries and stocked on the same day in on-levee tank systems (TS) on two farms (Farm 1-TS; Farm 2-TS1; Farm 2-TS2). Following 104 days of culture on Farm 2-TS1 and Farm 2-TS2, there were no differences in survival (72.8%–91.2%) or final weight (19.8–24.6 g). At Farm 1-TS following 107 days of culture, there were differences in survival from shrimp sourced from one hatchery (40.5%) compared to the other two hatcheries (61.0%–69.8%). Results demonstrated acceptable growth performance and survival from all hatchery sources.     

Habitat use of a coastal delphinid population investigated using passive acoustic monitoring

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