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Survival and Control of Food-Borne Pathogens in Farm Animals

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (19 January 2024) | Viewed by 4508

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sylvain Quessy

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Guest Editor

Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Veterinary Medicine Faculty, Université de Montréal, 3190 Sicotte, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada
Interests: foodborne pathogens; food safety control systems; risk analysis

Prof. Dr. Marie-Lou Gaucher

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Veterinary Medicine Faculty, Université de Montréal, 3190 Sicotte, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada
Interests: food safety; poultry; antimicrobial resistance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is now widely accepted that the control of foodborne pathogens (FBPs) in meat products starts at the farm level. While important efforts have been made to improve our knowledge of the survival and control of FBPs in live animals, relatively little progress have been made in that direction. A good proportion of animals entering the food chain still act as asymptomatic carriers of various FBPs that ultimately impact the health of consumers.

The emergence of new tools to better study the intestinal microbiota of live animals and the final meat product or to assess the efficacy of control pre-harvest strategies provides new perspectives and possibilities to better manage biological hazards, including antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms associated with farm animal-derived products. This Special Issue will focus on the latest knowledge surrounding the usefulness of these tools for the study and control of FBPs in farm animals. It will provide not only a better understanding of how some virulent and resistant pathogens compete against other microbial genera within the intestine and survive as members of the meat microbiota, but it will also provide information on the efficacy of treatments or control strategies aiming to reduce the likelihood of an animal entering the food chain and contaminating the final product, providing useful information to anyone interested in the use of such approaches.

Prof. Dr. Sylvain Quessy
Prof. Dr. Marie-Lou Gaucher
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

foodborne pathogens
farm animals
microbiota
pre-harvest food safety

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2706 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of the Effects of a Novel Probiotic on Salmonella Colonization of a Piglet-Derived Intestinal Microbiota Using Improved Bioreactor

by Amely Grandmont, Mohamed Rhouma, Marie-Pierre Létourneau-Montminy, William Thériault, Isabelle Mainville, Yves Arcand, Roland Leduc, Bruno Demers and Alexandre Thibodeau

Animals 2024, 14(5), 787; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14050787 - 2 Mar 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1058

Abstract

The carriage of Salmonella in pigs is a major concern for the agri-food industry and for global healthcare systems. Humans could develop salmonellosis when consuming contaminated pig products. On the other hand, some Salmonella serotypes could cause disease in swine, leading to economic losses on farms. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the anti-Salmonella activity of a novel Bacillus-based probiotic using a bioreactor containing a piglet-derived intestinal microbiota. Two methods of probiotic administration were tested: a single daily and a continuous dose. Salmonella enumeration was performed using selective agar at T24h, T48h, T72h, T96h and T120h. The DNA was extracted from bioreactor samples to perform microbiome profiling by targeted 16S rRNA gene sequencing on Illumina Miseq. The quantification of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) was also assessed at T120h. The probiotic decreased Salmonella counts at T96 for the daily dose and at T120 for the continuous one. Both probiotic doses affected the alpha and beta diversity of the piglet-derived microbiota (p < 0.05). A decrease in acetate concentration and an increase in propionate proportion were observed in the continuous condition. In conclusion, the tested Bacillus-based product showed a potential to modulate microbiota and reduce Salmonella colonization in a piglet-derived intestinal microbiota and could therefore be used in vivo. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Survival and Control of Food-Borne Pathogens in Farm Animals)

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13 pages, 1088 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prevalence, Genetic Diversity, and Quantification of the RNA Genome of the Hepatitis E Virus in Slaughtered Pigs in Serbia

by Lazar Milojević, Branko Velebit, Vesna Janković, Radmila Mitrović, Nikola Betić, Sara Simunović and Mirjana Dimitrijević

Animals 2024, 14(4), 586; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14040586 - 10 Feb 2024

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Abstract

The goal of this study conducted in Serbia was to detect HEV in pig liver samples from slaughterhouses, retail outlets, and environmental swabs over the course of a year. All positive HEV samples were measured and expressed as HEV gene copy numbers per gram of sample, and a representative number of samples were sequenced using the Sanger approach. A total of 45 HEV-positive samples were re-amplified using nested RT-PCR employing CODEHOP primers targeting ORF2 (493 nucleotides). The average prevalence of the HEV genotype 3 in all pig liver samples from the slaughterhouses was 29%, while HEV prevalence was 44% in liver samples from animals younger than 3 months. HEV RNA was found in thirteen out of sixty (22%) environmental swab samples that were taken from different surfaces along the slaughter line. Our findings confirmed seasonal patterns in HEV prevalence, with two picks (summer and winter periods) during the one-year examination. Among HEV-positive samples, the average viral particles for all positive liver samples was 4.41 ± 1.69 log₁₀ genome copies per gram. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the majority of HEV strains (43/45) from Serbia were grouped in the HEV-3a subtype, while two strains were classified into the HEV-3c subtype, and one strain could not be classified into any of the HEV-3 subtypes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Survival and Control of Food-Borne Pathogens in Farm Animals)

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26 pages, 3740 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Immunoprotective Capacity of Five Vaccine Candidate Proteins against Avian Necrotic Enteritis and Impact on the Caecal Microbiota of Vaccinated Birds

by Sara Heidarpanah, Alexandre Thibodeau, Valeria R. Parreira, Sylvain Quessy, Mariela Segura, Marcelo Gottschalk, Annie Gaudreau, Tristan Juette and Marie-Lou Gaucher

Animals 2023, 13(21), 3323; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13213323 - 26 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1118

Abstract

Avian necrotic enteritis is an enteric disease of broiler chickens caused by certain pathogenic strains of Clostridium perfringens in combination with predisposing factors. A vaccine offering complete protection against the disease has not yet been commercialized. In a previous study, we produced five recombinant proteins predicted to be surface-exposed and unique to necrotic enteritis-causing C. perfringens and the immunogenicity of these potential vaccine candidates was assessed in broiler chickens. In the current work, the relative contribution of the antibodies raised by these putative antigens to protect broiler chickens was evaluated using an experimental necrotic enteritis induction model. Additionally, the link between the immune response elicited and the gut microbiota profiles in immunized birds subjected to infection with virulent C. perfringens was studied. The ELISA results showed that the IgY antibody titers in vaccinated birds on days 21 and 33 were significantly higher than those on days 7 and 14 and those in birds receiving the adjuvant alone, while the relative contribution of the specific immunity attributed to these antibodies could not be precisely determined using this experimental necrotic enteritis induction model. In addition, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed that immunization of birds with recombinant proteins had a low impact on the chicken caecal microbiota. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Survival and Control of Food-Borne Pathogens in Farm Animals)

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Review

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20 pages, 643 KiB

Open AccessReview

Pre-Harvest Food Safety Challenges in Food-Animal Production in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

by Eyasu T. Seyoum, Tadesse Eguale, Ihab Habib, Celso J. B. Oliveira, Daniel F. M. Monte, Baowei Yang, Wondwossen A. Gebreyes and Walid Q. Alali

Animals 2024, 14(5), 786; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14050786 - 2 Mar 2024

Viewed by 952

Abstract

Food safety remains a significant global public health concern, with the risk of unsafe food varying worldwide. The economies of several low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) heavily rely on livestock, posing a challenge to ensuring the production of safe food. This review discusses our understanding of pre-harvest critical issues related to food safety in LMICs, specifically focusing on animal-derived food. In LMICs, food safety regulations are weak and inadequately enforced, primarily concentrating on the formal market despite a substantial portion of the food sector being dominated by informal markets. Key critical issues at the farm level include animal health, a low level of good agriculture practices, and the misuse of antimicrobials. Effectively addressing foodborne diseases requires a comprehensive One Health framework. Unfortunately, the application of the One Health approach to tackle food safety issues is notably limited in LMICs. In conclusion, considering that most animal-source foods from LMICs are marketed through informal channels, food safety legislation and policies need to account for this context. Interventions aimed at reducing foodborne bacterial pathogens at the farm level should be scalable, and there should be strong advocacy for the proper implementation of pre-harvest interventions through a One Health approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Survival and Control of Food-Borne Pathogens in Farm Animals)

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