OFH01 - To Develop a Baseline Study for Microbial Hazards Associated with Hogs

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Researcher:

Dr. Bob Friendship, Dept. of Population Medicine, University of Guelph

Objective:

To design and conduct an on-farm baseline study in hogs to determine the presence and prevalence of specific foodborne pathogens of human health significance and identify their relationships to relevant environmental and management risks on Ontario hog farms.

Expected Benefits:

Determination of baseline levels of specific foodborne pathogens (presence, prevalence and levels) and their relationship with relevant environmental and management risk factors on Ontario hog farms. These baseline levels will provide OMAF and the Ontario pork industry with Ontario-specific data to help support optimal use of Ontario's food safety resources and assist in the continuous improvement of on-farm food safety programs.

Summary of Research Results:

Based on culture and serology it was determined that Campylobacter coli is present in feces of almost all pigs in Ontario but C. jejuni is rarely isolated. Yersinia enterocolitica and Salmonella enterica are frequently isolated with approximately half the farms testing positive in this study. We assume if we had tested multiple age groups and revisited the farms several times for repeat testing the proportion of positive farms would be much higher. The majority of bio/serotypes of both Salmonella and Yersinia are ones that tend to be associated with human disease and are therefore of concern from a public health standpoint. Feces were cultured for E. coli O157:H7 but only one isolate was identified. This confirms that although pigs can shed this important pathogen the prevalence is quite low. Likewise Toxoplasma gondii infection appears to be rare. The presence of antimicrobial resistance developing in these zoonotic bacterial diseases is a major concern. We evaluated resistance in Campylobacter coli isolates and found high levels of resistance to macrolides but almost no resistance to fluoroquinilones. More importantly, isolates of Salmonella Typhimurium with multiple antimicrobial resistance were identified.