SUMMARYTo determine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage in poultry and slaughterhouse personnel, 40 Dutch broiler flocks, in six slaughterhouses and 466 personnel were sampled. Of the employees, 26 were positive (5 . 6 %), indicating a higher risk of exposure when compared to the general Dutch population (0 . 1 %). This risk was significantly higher for personnel having contact with live animals (5 . 2 %) -especially hanging broilers on the slaughterline (20 . 0%) -than for all other personnel (1 . 9 %). Conventional electric stunning conferred a significantly higher risk of MRSA carriage for employees than CO 2 stunning (9 . 7% vs. 2 . 0%). A total of 405 broilers were sampled upon their arrival at the slaughterhouse, of which 6 . 9% were positive. These broilers originated from 40 Dutch slaughter flocks of which 35 . 0% were positive. MRSA contamination in the different compartments of slaughterhouses increased during the production day, from 8 % to 35 %. Of the 119 MRSA isolates, predominantly livestock-associated MRSA ST398 was found, although 27 . 7 % belonged to ST9 (spa type t1430). There is an increased risk of MRSA carriage in personnel working at broiler slaughterhouses, particularly those having contact with live animals.

Poultry meat is the major source of human campylobacteriosis, the most frequently reported zoonosis in the EU. The prevalence of Campylobacter colonization in European broiler flocks is 71%. Despite considerable efforts, there is still no effective strategy available to prevent or reduce Campylobacter colonization in broilers. This study tested a wide variety of feed additives to reduce Campylobacter shedding in primary poultry production. Twelve additives containing organic or fatty acids, monoglycerides, plant extracts, prebiotics, or probiotics were tested. For each additive, broilers contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni were fed with an additive free diet (control group) or with a supplemented diet (treated group) and Campylobacter loads compared at three sampling times. No treatment was able to prevent broiler colonization by Campylobacter, and there was a high degree of variation in contamination among the birds. At 14 d of age, eight treatments significantly decreased the colonization level compared to the control group by a maximum of 2 log10 CFU/g. At 35 d of age, three of these treatments still had a significant effect with a maximum reduction of 1.88 log10 CFU/g for a probiotic. At 42 d of age, only one short-chain fatty acid was still significantly efficient with a mean reduction over 2 log10 CFU/g. In addition, a probiotic and a prebiotic-like compound significantly decreased the contamination by a maximum of 3 log10 CFU/g, only at the 42-d sampling period. This study gives promising results regarding the use of feed additives to reduce Campylobacter infection in flocks. Nevertheless, a global approach, combining intervention measures at the different steps of the broiler meat production chain could have a greater impact on the reduction of public health risk.

Feed intake characteristics of 192, 27-d-old weanling pigs housed in groups and given ad libitum access to feed and water were measured individually with the use of computerized feeding stations. The groups were either homogeneous or heterogeneous as to BW distribution; pigs of three defined initial BW classes were used (mean BW of 6.7, 7.9, or 9.3 kg). The effects of BW distribution, BW class, and sex were studied with regard to average performance traits, latency time (interval between weaning and first feed intake), initial feed intake (intake during the first 24 h following first feed intake), and daily increase in feed intake during the interval between first feed intake and the day on which energy intake met or exceeded 1.5 times the maintenance requirement. Homogeneous and heterogeneous groups had similar latency times, initial feed intakes, and daily increases in feed intake. For the period 0 to 34 d after weaning, ADFI and ADG were also similar for homogeneous and heterogeneous groups, but gain:feed ratio was greater (P < 0.05) in the homogeneous groups. Gilts had higher (P < 0.05) initial feed intakes than barrows and also had greater (P < 0.05) ADFI and ADG during the period 0 to 13 d after weaning. Pigs with average BW of 6.7 kg had higher (P < 0.05) initial feed intakes than their counterparts with average BW of 7.9 kg and 9.3 kg, but the daily increase in feed intake was similar for the three groups. The lighter pigs had more daily visits and a lower feed intake per visit and tended to have a shorter postweaning latency to the onset of feeding than the heavier pigs. This study indicates that the high variability in early feeding behavior among group-housed weanling pigs may be related to BW and sex.

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An experiment was conducted on three farms to study the relationship between the results of an oral glucose tolerance test on d 104 +/- 4 of pregnancy and subsequent reproductive performance of 104 multiparous sows. After an overnight period without feed, sows were fed (3 g/kg BW.75) glucose, and blood samples were taken for analyses of glucose at -10, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 70, 80, 90, 105, and 120 min after administration of glucose. Glucose concentrations before glucose administration ranged from 2.0 to 3.6 mmol/L. Sows with lesser pretest glucose concentrations had longer (P < .01) durations of pregnancy (corrected for number of live pigs born) and heavier (P < .05) pigs at birth (corrected for farm and number of live pigs born). Peak glucose concentrations and areas under the curves (i.e., first 70 min and entire 120 min) ranged from .1 to 4.4 mmol/L, -40 to 211 (mmol/L).min, and -95 to 247 (mmol/L).min, respectively. Sows with greater (P < .01) peak concentration of glucose and greater area under the curve (first 70 min [P < .01] and entire 120 min [P < .01]) had increased pig mortality during the first 7 d after farrowing (corrected for live weight of the sows). In 83 sows, a sample of morning urine (before feeding) was collected and tested for glucose and ketone bodies. Neither glucose nor the ketone body acetoacetic acid was detected in the urine. The results indicate that sows that are less glucose-tolerant have greater pig mortality.