Effect of some Preslaughter Treatments on the Salmonella Population in the Bovine Rumen and Faeces

Abstract

SUMMARY Salmonella spp. were detected commonly in railway wagons, saleyards and abattoir holding pens through which cattle pass from farm to slaughter. The salmonellae population in the rumen and faeces of cattle at slaughter depended on the previous treatment of the animal. The percentage of animals with salmonellae in the rumen was greater the longer the period between leaving the farm and slaughter; feeding once during this period increased the incidence and numbers of salmonellae in the rumen and at least the incidence in the faeces.

Quantification and prevalence of Salmonella in beef cattle presenting at slaughter

“…Only one isolate of Salmonella recovered from the faeces of an animal was serotyped in this study and therefore it is possible that there may have been multiple other serotypes of Salmonella present. There was nothing unique about the serotypes of Salmonella isolated in the current survey, as S. Typhimurium, S. Muenchen, S. Anatum and S. Orion, have previously been isolated from cattle slaughtered in Australia (Grau and Brownlie 1968). All of the serotypes found in this study have been associated with cattle, abattoir environments or beef in Australia (Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science 2002; National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme 2002) and other countries (Dargatz et al 2003).…”

“…The prevalence of Salmonella reported in European animals has ranged from <1 (Williams et al 1978) to 42% (Vella and Cuschieri 1995). In Australia, cattle at slaughter have been studied extensively in the past with reports of Salmonella prevalence in faeces and caecal contents ranging from 57 to 77% (Grau and Brownlie 1968;Samuel et al 1980Samuel et al , 1981. Many of the cattle from these studies had been held for several days (over the weekend) before slaughter and were chosen as they were more likely to carry Salmonella.…”

Salmonella Pathogenicity and Host Adaptation in Chicken-Associated Serovars

“…Emptying of the GIT content represents one of the more drastic alterations that occurs either naturally or as part of a prescribed treatment in humans or a management option in animals. Increased populations of Salmonella have been consistently observed in a variety of animals undergoing emptying of the GIT due to feed removal, including chickens (377-381), mice (382), and ruminants (383)(384)(385). Although the indigenous GIT microflora were not characterized in these early studies, it was speculated that feed removal/GIT emptying potentially influenced the microbial populations or activities, and susceptibility to Salmonella colonization was presumed to be related to decreases in levels of antimicrobial organic acids generated during fermentation (250).…”

Fibronectin Binding to theSalmonella entericaSerotype Typhimurium ShdA Autotransporter Protein Is Inhibited by a Monoclonal Antibody Recognizing the A3 Repeat

“…Expression of ShdA in serotype Typhimurium increases binding of fibronectin to the bacterial surface (22). The passenger domain of ShdA binds in a heparin-sensitive mechanism to fibronectin at the Hep-2 domain via interaction with at least one cationic residue present on the surface of the 13 FnIII repeat module that is also the binding site for the anionic polysaccharide heparin. ShdA also bound to a second heparin-binding protein, collagen I, by a heparin-sensitive mechanism, suggesting that ShdA binding activity may represent a form of molecular mimicry of heparin binding (21).…”

“…In the United States, between 1 and 6% of farm animals test positive for intestinal carriage of Salmonella serotypes (6-11, 27, 37). Stress during transport and long periods with intermittent feeding increase the spread of Salmonella among livestock and domestic fowl prior to slaughter (5,7,13,18,19,27,29,31,32). As a result, Salmonella serotypes can on average be isolated from Ͼ10% of apparently healthy animals prior to slaughter (7,27,37).…”