A Retrospective Study after 10 Years (2010–2019) of Meat Inspection Activity in a Domestic Swine Abattoir in Tuscany: The Slaughterhouse as an Epidemiological Observatory

Abstract

The activities performed by the Official Veterinarian at the slaughterhouse represent a useful source of data for the control of issues affecting human and animal health and welfare. This study analyzed the data deriving from ten years (2010–2019) of meat inspection in a pig slaughterhouse in Tuscany (Italy) to investigate the transport mortality rate and the frequencies and main causes of whole carcass and partial condemnations. In total, 1,246,309 pigs were slaughtered from 8 different regions of Central and Northern Italy. Overall, 1153 pigs died during transport (mortality rate 0.09%). Whole carcass condemnation affected 372 carcasses (0.03%), mainly due to erysipelas, generalized jaundice, lipomatous pseudohypertrophy, generalized abscesses, acute or generalized enteritis, and peritonitis. As regards partial condemnations, the liver was the most frequently condemned (~30% of the pigs), followed by lungs (17.3%), heart (6.9%), and kidney (0.9%). The main causes were “milk spot liver” and perihepatitis for the liver; pneumonia and pleurisy for the lungs; pericarditis and polyserositis for the heart; and polycystic kidney and nephritis for kidneys. The results of this study describe a non-worrying situation as regards the investigated aspects and confirm the slaughterhouse as a valid epidemiological observatory for monitoring the trend of the main diseases over time, the results of the efforts for their control, and the compliance with animal welfare standards.

Agricultural Holdings and Slaughterhouses’ Impact on Patterns of Pathological Findings Observed during Post-Mortem Meat Inspection

“…Overall, findings of the D-categories, which reflect condemnation of the entire carcase, were reported at a frequency of 4.5%, with pleuritis (1.3%) being the most frequent individual finding. In contrast to our results, lower carcase condemnation rates have been reported in other studies, e.g., 0.03% in one Italian pig slaughterhouse [ 31 ], 0.24% in Portugal [ 33 ], or 0.35% in the United Kingdom [ 34 ]. However, the current study covered results from all slaughterhouses in the whole of Austria and, therefore, provides a fuller picture than previous studies.…”

“…As in our study, previously reported causes of carcase condemnation were relatively heterogeneous and included abscesses, peritonitis, septicaemia, cachexia, and pleuritis/pneumonia [ 31 , 35 ]. Much more frequently, alterations of specific organs were recorded by these authors.…”

“…Understanding the validity of results from meat inspection as well as the possible influencing factors is important to draw conclusions beneficial for various stakeholders along the food chain. While it is important for pig producers and their attending veterinarians to obtain more information on herd health, it is also vital for slaughterhouse managers and policy makers to understand differences in slaughter processes and data recording on which to base further improvement [ 17 , 31 ].…”

“…In contrast to other studies, where only a few selected findings or a small number of slaughterhouses were considered [ 19 , 20 , 31 , 32 ], our study considered data from 66 Austrian slaughterhouses using the electronic recording system (NB. small slaughterhouses without an electronic system and home-related slaughter (for own consumption) were not included) and all post-mortem meat inspection findings reflecting all pathologies and abnormalities which are required to be recorded in Austria.…”

“…The figure for pericarditis is lower than in other studies, where rates between 3.2% and 10.8% have been reported [ 35 , 39 ]. In an Italian study, besides pericarditis, the second cause of heart condemnation was polyserositis, a code which does not exist in the Austrian system [ 31 , 40 ].…”