Osteomyelitis in Pig Carcasses at a Portuguese Slaughterhouse: Association with Tail-Biting and Teeth Resection.

Osteomyelitis is the leading cause of total carcass condemnation in finishing pigs in Portugal, causing significant economic losses in swine production. The present study sought to determine a possible link between osteomyelitis in pig carcasses, pre-slaughter factors, and concomitant post-mortem inspection findings. For this purpose, meat inspection data were collected from 100,489 finishing pigs slaughtered in a northern Portuguese abattoir. Information regarding total carcass condemnation, slaughter season, origin, sex, tail-biting lesions, and husbandry invasive procedures (tail docking and teeth resection) was collected. The main cause of total carcass condemnation was osteomyelitis (61.03%). A total of 36.16% of osteomyelitis cases were present in the anterior region and 52.20% in the posterior region. In the anterior region, 94.78% of osteomyelitis cases were in the mandibular bone. Pigs with clipped teeth and carcasses with pleurisies were associated with a higher occurrence of osteomyelitis (p = 0.00262 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Second- and third-grade tail-biting lesions were also linked to a higher occurrence of osteomyelitis (p = 0.00128 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Slaughter inspection and monitoring procedures should be revised to better assess welfare factors and correlate management practices with the occurrence of osteomyelitis in pig carcasses.

Scrapie at Abattoir: Monitoring, Control, and Differential Diagnosis of Wasting Conditions during Meat Inspection.

Wasting disease in small ruminants is frequently detected at slaughterhouses. The wasting disorder is manifested by the deterioration of the nutritional and physiological state of the animal indicated by thinness, emaciation, and cachexia. Evidence of emaciation and cachexia, alone, are pathological conditions leading to carcass condemnation during an inspection. Several diseases are associated with a wasting condition, including scrapie, pseudotuberculosis, tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, Maedi Visna, and tumor diseases. On the other hand, parasitic diseases, nutrition disorders, exposure or ingestion of toxins, metabolic conditions, inadequate nutrition due to poor teeth, or poor alimentary diet are conditions contributing to poor body condition. Classical and atypical scrapie is naturally occurring transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in small ruminants. The etiological agent for each one is prions. However, each of these scrapie types is epidemiologically, pathologically, and biochemically different. Though atypical scrapie occurs at low incidence, it is consistently prevalent in the small ruminant population. Hence, it is advisable to include differential diagnosis of this disease, from other possibilities, as a cause of wasting conditions detected during meat inspection at the abattoir. This manuscript is a review of the measures in force at the abattoir for scrapie control, focusing on the differential diagnosis of gross lesions related to wasting conditions detected in small ruminants during meat inspection.