The handling of cattle during unloading (n = 39) and movement to slaughter (n = 163) was observed at a commercial slaughterhouse. Most potentially traumatic events and handling events occurred while the cattle were in the race. During the initial 3 hours in the lairage pen, cattle from markets (n = 28) spent significantly more time drinking than those sent to slaughter direct from farms (n = 11; P < 0.05). Most cattle had bruises (99%; η = 181), but there was no difference between the occurrence of bruising in cattle direct from farms and those from markets. Bruise score was not affected by the distance transported from farms 18-201km (11-125 miles). However, cattle from markets > 64km (>40 miles) from the slaughterhouse had greater bruise scores than those from nearer markets 0.8-64km (0.5-40 miles) (P <0.01). No correlations were found between potentially traumatic events at the slaughterhouse and the occurrence of bruising. Plasma total protein concentration and plasma creatine kinase activity in blood collected at exsanguination (n = 170) was significantly greater in cattle from markets than in those from farms (P < 0.05), but there was no difference in plasma osmolality and packed cell volume (PCV). Cattle from distant markets > 129km (>80 miles) had higher PCV and plasma total protein concentration than those from markets within 129km (80 miles) (P <0.05). The overall results suggest that cattle from markets, particularly those transported for a distance greater than 64km (40 miles), would benefit from greater access to water at the market and from improved methods of handling and transport prior to arrival at the slaughterhouse.

The objective of the present study was to assess the sensitivity and feasibility of the Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol for finishing pigs in 10 Spanish slaughterhouses. Sensitivity refers to the ability of the WQ assessment system to discriminate between slaughter conditions whilst feasibility denotes that the protocol is concise and easy to implement. On arrival at the plant, the incidence of dead, sick and panting animals was assessed in 1,002 (± 93) pigs per abattoir. During unloading, the percentage of pigs that slipped, fell, showed reluctance to move or turned back and were lame was also assessed. In the lairage pens, the stocking density and the percentage of pigs that were panting, shivering, and huddling was assessed in a total of 346 (± 81.0) pigs per abattoir. Stunning effectiveness, slaughter checks and skin lesions were also assessed in 60 animals per abattoir. For the majority of measures, any differences between slaughterhouses were found to be attributable to the installation itself and the management of the slaughterhouse, such as generalised fear, slipping and falling or stunning effectiveness, as opposed to measures taken to assess transport conditions or farm origin, such as lameness or sick and dead animals. The study protocol took 5.5 h for one observer to complete, in a slaughterhouse killing more than 550,000 pigs a year, although this time could increase dramatically in smaller abattoirs due to delays in the arrival of lorries. The protocol provides a general overview of the state of welfare of animals at the slaughterhouse and can readily identify specific problems in certain areas, such as stunning of animals.

The objective of the present retrospective analysis was to review between- and within-sector variations in an outcome-based measure of animal welfare throughout slaughterhouses that currently supply to Tesco Stores Ltd, UK. Non-conformances in relation to individual scheme standards were designated a specific level in terms of severity and frequency and from this a single outcome status, based on a ‘traffic-light’ system is assigned to the site (which informs both subsequent corrective action and future inspection frequency). Sector-specific, country and time differences were found and underlying contributory factors and associated commercial implications are reviewed.

The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica infection in cattle slaughterhouses, as well as its association with climatic/environmental factors (derived from satellite data), seasonality and climate regions in two states in Mexico. Condemned livers from slaughtered animals were obtained from three abattoirs in the states of Puebla and Veracruz. The overall prevalence of the parasite in cattle between January and December of 2017 was 20.6% (1407 out of 6834); the highest rate of condemnation was observed in Veracruz (26.3%; tropical climate), and the lowest rate was found in Puebla (15.5%; temperate climate). The seasonal prevalence of fluke infection was 18.6%, 14.8% and 28.4% during the wet season, and 17.1%, 12.4% and 22.8% during the dry season in the three abattoir sites, located in the districts of Zacatlán, Teziutlán and Ciudad Alemán, respectively. Liver condemnations due to bovine fasciolosis were prevalent in the Zacatlán, Teziutlán and Ciudad Alemán districts during summer, autumn and summer, respectively. Using generalized estimating equations analysis, we determined six variables – rainfall (wet/dry), land surface temperature day, land surface temperature night, normalized difference vegetation index, seasonality and climate regions (temperate/tropical) – to be significantly associated with the prevalence of condemned livers. Climate region was the variable most strongly associated with F. hepatica infection (odds ratio (OR) 266.59; 95% confidence interval (CI): 241.90–353.34), followed by wet and dry seasons (OR 25.56; 95% CI: 20.56–55.67).

This communication assesses the use of a portable near infrared (NIR) instrument to measure quantitative (fatty acid profile) properties and qualitative (‘Premium’ and ‘Non-premium’) categories of individual Iberian pork carcasses at the slaughterhouse. Acorn-fed Iberian pigs have more unsaturated fats than pigs fed conventional compound feed. Recent advances in miniaturisation have led to a number of handheld NIR devices being developed, allowing processing decisions to be made earlier, significantly reducing time and costs. The most common methods used for assessing quality and authenticity of Iberian hams are analysis of the fatty acid composition of subcutaneous fat using gas chromatography and DNA analysis. In this study, NIR calibrations for fatty acids and classification as premium or non-premium ham, based on carcass fat measured in situ, were developed using a portable NIR spectrometer. The accuracy of the quantitative equations was evaluated through the standard error of cross validation or standard error of prediction of 0.84 for palmitic acid (C16:0), 0.94 for stearic acid (C18:0), 1.47 for oleic acid (C18:1) and 0.58 for linoleic acid (C18:2). Qualitative calibrations provided acceptable results, with up to 98% of samples (n = 234) correctly classified with probabilities ⩾0.9. Results indicated a portable NIR instrument has the potential to be used to measure quality and authenticity of Iberian pork carcasses.

Disease surveillance can be made more effective by either improving disease detection, providing cost savings, or doing both. Currently, cattle herds in low-risk areas (LRAs) for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in England are tested once every 4 years. In Scotland, the default herd testing frequency is also 4 years, but a risk-based system exempts some herds from testing altogether. To extend this approach to other areas, a bespoke understanding of at-risk herds and how risk-based surveillance can affect bTB detection is required. Here, we use a generalized linear mixed model to inform a Bayesian probabilistic model of freedom from infection and explore risk-based surveillance strategies in LRAs and Scotland. Our analyses show that in both areas the primary herd-level risk factors for bTB infection are the size of the herd and purchasing cattle from high-risk areas of Great Britain and/or Ireland. A risk-based approach can improve the current surveillance system by both increasing detection (9% and 7% fewer latent infections), and reducing testing burden (6% and 26% fewer animal tests) in LRAs and Scotland, respectively. Testing at-risk herds more frequently can also improve the level of detection by identifying more infected cases and reducing the hidden burden of the disease, and reduce surveillance effort by exempting low-risk herds from testing.

Salmonella spp. comprise the second most common food-borne pathogens in the European Union (EU). The role of pigs as carriers of Salmonella has been intensively studied both on farm and at slaughter. Salmonella infection in pigs may cause fever, diarrhoea, prostration and mortality. However, most infected pigs remain healthy carriers, and those infected at the end of the fattening period could pose a threat to human health. Contamination of pig carcasses can occur on the slaughter line, and it is linked to cross-contamination from other carcasses and the presence of Salmonella in the environment. Therefore, Salmonella serovars present on pig carcasses can be different from those detected in the same bathes on the farm. In recent years, S. Typhimurium, S. Derby and S. serotype 4,[5],12:i:- (a monophasic variant of S. Typhimurium) have been the most common serovars to be detected in pigs in EU countries, but S. Rissen, S. Infantis, S. Enteritidis and S. Brandenburg have also been reported. In humans, several cases of salmonellosis have been linked to the consumption of raw or undercooked pork and pork products. Among the main serovars of porcine origin detected in confirmed human cases, S. Typhimurium, the monophasic variant S. 4,[5],12:i:- and S. Derby are certainly the most important.

Post-mortem examination continues to play an important surveillance role in the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) eradication programme in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that 18–28% of new bTB herd breakdowns are disclosed by the detection of bTB lesions in animals routinely slaughtered. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of different slaughterhouses in Northern Ireland in detecting bTB-lesioned animals at routine slaughter (LRS) and to apply the findings to maximize the sensitivity of bTB slaughterhouse surveillance. Univariate statistical analysis on cattle slaughtered in Northern Ireland during 2011–2013 revealed that the risk of LRS disclosure varied between slaughterhouses, ranging from 0·08% to 0·54%. Furthermore, the risk of confirmation of these LRS as bTB varied between slaughterhouses, ranging from 57·9% to 72·4%. Logistic regression modelling of selected risk factors found that the risk of LRS disclosure increased with age, and was higher in purchased animals, during winter months, in animals coming from high bTB incidence areas and in animals slaughtered from herds with a bTB restriction in the last 2–3 years. Adjusting for these selected factors, the risk of LRS disclosure and bTB confirmation changed very little from the univariable analysis, suggesting that differences in disclosure risks between slaughterhouses were likely to be due to factors related to the slaughterhouses, rather than to the risk status of the animals presented. Examination of procedures within these slaughterhouses is recommended to identify ways that could increase the sensitivity of their bTB surveillance.

Sophisticated capital intensive waste-recycling technologies are unviable in small rural abattoirs in India due to low volume of wastes (principally blood and rumen digesta) generated and lack of infrastructural facilities. We report recycling of slaughterhouse wastes as an organic fertilizer, ‘bovine-blood-rumen-digesta-mixture’ (BBRDM). Bovine blood and rumen digesta were mixed in 3:1 ratio in a metallic container, boiled and stirred continuously till the mixture was largely free of water. The mass was sun-dried for 3 days to obtain the final product. BBRDM was applied for field cultivation of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L., local variety ‘Patharkuchi’) in West Bengal state (India) during 2012–13 and 2013–14. We compared tomato yields obtained with BBRDM (N:P2O5:K2O 30.36:1:5.75) and conventional inorganic fertilizers [diammonium phosphate (DAP), N:P2O5:K2O 18:46:0 + potash, N:P2O5:K2O 0:0:44]. BBRDM was applied at a higher rate compared with DAP + potash to meet the farmers’ desire for enhanced yields. 75 kg ha−1 was applied at the 2nd week while 150 kg ha−1 was applied at the 8th week after transplantation. Yields (total fruit weight) obtained from BBRDM-treated plants were higher in comparison with DAP + potash-fertilized plants by 46–48% as the former supplied 2.5 times more nitrogen (N) than the latter. The partial factor productivity of DAP + potash was 73–76% higher than BBRDM. Conversely, as BBRDM was produced through local entrepreneurship from slaughterhouse wastes, the cost of this organic product would be expected to be much lower than the commercial inorganic fertilizer. Furthermore, application of BBRDM negates the environmental cost of treating slaughterhouse effluent. Considering the same cost of applying 225 kg fertilizer ha−1, higher yield with BBRDM should result in greater potential revenue for the farmer compared with yields with DAP + potash. The C/N ratio of BBRDM is 4.8, having relatively high N content. Accordingly, rapid release of plant-available N was observed in BBRDM-fertilized soils. The temporal increase in soil NH4+may be attributed to lack of soil N immobilization. Local farmers are willing to accept the new fertilizer as a substitute for currently used chemical fertilizers.

The objective of this study was to assess the performance of several algorithms for outbreak detection based on weekly proportions of whole carcass condemnations. Data from one French slaughterhouse over the 2005–2009 period were used (177 098 slaughtered cattle, 0.97% of whole carcass condemnations). The method involved three steps: (i) preparation of an outbreak-free historical baseline over 5 years, (ii) simulation of over 100 years of baseline time series with injection of artificial outbreak signals with several shapes, durations and magnitudes, and (iii) assessment of the performance (sensitivity, specificity, outbreak detection precocity) of several algorithms to detect these artificial outbreak signals. The algorithms tested included the Shewart p chart, confidence interval of the negative binomial model, the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA); and cumulative sum (CUSUM). The highest sensitivity was obtained using a negative binomial algorithm and the highest specificity with CUSUM or EWMA. EWMA sensitivity was too low to select this algorithm for efficient outbreak detection. CUSUM's performance was complementary to the negative binomial algorithm. The use of both algorithms on real data for a prospective investigation of the whole carcass condemnation rate as a syndromic surveillance indicator could be relevant. Shewart could also be a good option considering its high sensitivity and simplicity of implementation.

The objective of this study was to identify the most reliable approach for prevalence estimation of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in clinically healthy slaughtered cattle. Sampling of macroscopically suspect tissue was compared to systematic sampling. Specimens of ileum, jejunum, mesenteric and caecal lymph nodes were examined for MAP infection using bacterial microscopy, culture, histopathology and immunohistochemistry. MAP was found most frequently in caecal lymph nodes, but sampling more tissues optimized the detection rate. Examination by culture was most efficient while combination with histopathology increased the detection rate slightly. MAP was detected in 49/50 animals with macroscopic lesions representing 1·35% of the slaughtered cattle examined. Of 150 systematically sampled macroscopically non-suspect cows, 28·7% were infected with MAP. This indicates that the majority of MAP-positive cattle are slaughtered without evidence of macroscopic lesions and before clinical signs occur. For reliable prevalence estimation of MAP infection in slaughtered cattle, systematic random sampling is essential.