Serological surveillance for antibodies against Erysipelothrix species in wild boar and deer in Japan.

We investigated the seroprevalence of antibodies against Erysipelothrix in wild animals in Japan. Serum samples were collected from 48 wild boar, 26 Yezo deer and 26 Japanese deer in Japan. Growth agglutination (GA) test was performed to estimate antibody titers. As a result, positive results were obtained from 32 (66.7%), 1 (3.6%) and 6 (23.1%) samples from wild boar, Yezo deer and Japanese deer, respectively. Our findings suggest that wild animals may be an important reservoir of Erysipelothrix.

A case control study of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) Persistent Infection (PI) in Betsukai, Hokkaido, Japan.

The Betsukai town office implemented bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) preventive activities (i.e., vaccination and surveillance) in 2006. Using bulk tank milk screening followed by individual blood tests using a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method, persistent infection (PI) cattle were detected and eliminated from the population. Based on data for PI cattle detected between 2006 and 2007, we conducted a case control study to find risk factors associated with the presence of PI cattle. Significantly associated farm level factors for increasing risk of producing PI cattle include; 1) no recent purchase of cattle (between 2004 and 2007) and 2) no prevention of people/animals entering the premises. This study suggests that not only vertical transmission from dam to calf but also indirect contact with people and animals play an important role in transmitting BVDV infection and subsequent production of PI animals.

Incidence and presence of virulence factors of Streptococcus suis infection in slaughtered pigs from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

This study was designed to determine the incidence of Streptococcus suis infection in slaughtered pigs raised in industrial facility and backyard system in Chiang Mai City, Thailand. A total of 90 tonsils and submaxillary salivary gland/lymph node samples from slaughtered pigs raised in industrial facility and 122 samples from slaughtered pigs raised in backyard system were collected. Isolation and identification of S. suis were conducted using standard bacteriological methods. Farm management and risk factor data were collected by a questionnaire. Serotyping and presence of virulence factor genes, epf, mrp and sly, were determined by multiplex PCR assay. The overall incidence of S. suis in this study was 9% (n = 212) and the incidence is significantly higher in districts located at a greater distance south of Chiang Mai City. S. suis serotype 2 was present more in healthy pigs (43%) than ill pigs (10%). Every S. suis isolate carried mrp and sly and ill pigs carried epf (80%) more than healthy pigs (57%). However, the probability of S. suis serotype 2 with epf+ (0.245) detected in healthy pigs was higher than in ill pigs (0.08) indicating people may have a higher risk of being infected with S. suis from healthy than ill pigs.

Hazard analysis of Listeria monocytogenes contaminations in processing of salted roe from walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) in Hokkaido, Japan.

Hazard analysis of Listeria monocytogenes contamination during processing of salted walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) roe was performed for a seafood plant in Japan from December 2005 to February 2006. As a result, L. monocytogenes number was detected on the pallet used for transport of barrels in the salting process and one of the rollers of the roller conveyor, which rotates while in contact with the bottoms of the barrels, but was not detected in any raw materials, interim products or final products. Thus, we believe that the pallet contamination initially occurred because of insufficient washing, that it was passed on to the bottoms of the barrels and that it was then passed on the roller of the roller conveyor by cross-contamination. Therefore, it is possible that interim and final products may become contaminated by processing devices and machinery. In addition, we conducted an inoculation study designed at the 1/20 actual factory scale using interim products with or without artificial color and seeded with L. monocytogenes to observe changes in its growth. In the inoculation study, multiplication of L. monocytogenes during the salting process was not confirmed in the samples with artificial color.

Game Meat Consumption and Foodborne Illness in Japan: A Web-Based Questionnaire Survey.

HIGHLIGHTS: Game meat represents a unique source of foodborne illness in humans. A Web-based survey about game meat consumption was completed by 50,000 respondents. The odds of illness were greater among consumers of raw game meat than processed meat. The greater the number of game meat types consumed, the higher the prevalence of illness. Those who hunted and prepared bear, boar, and deer meat were likely to get ill.

Livestock production and foodborne diseases from food animals in Thailand.

Thailand is a developing nation dependent on agriculture. Due to lack of modern public health practices, she suffers from the consequences of foodborne illnesses. The number of foodborne infection cases has nearly doubled in the past 10 years. Salmonella and Campylobacter pose the greatest risk of bacterial contaminants, mostly from pigs and chickens, and this paper will review livestock production systems and foodborne diseases from cases stemming from these sources. Due to the complexity of the livestock production systems, collection of data to date has been sporadic, but it is clear that controls are needed in slaughterhouse processing methods, and more communication between agencies and surrounding regions is paramount for proper surveillance to have any significant effect.

Livestock-wildlife joint land use in dry lands of Kenya: a case study of the Lolldaiga Hills ranch.

This study aimed to examine livestock-wildlife interactions at the micro level and to quantify how resources are shared in joint land use by comparing the monitoring records collected on the Lolldaiga Hills ranch in Laikipia, Kenya from 1990s onwards. Livestock and wildlife distributions together with existing water points were geo-referenced; by air and road census total animal biomass densities were estimated. Through 38-h observation at a water point, livestock-wildlife interaction was recorded. During this period, water decline has been identified as an acute factor for farming and ranching. It was found that distributions of livestock and wildlife were related to water and pasture availability during the severe drought in 2009. Although there is seasonality in densities of both livestock and wildlife populations, results of air census indicated that the stable resident populations of wildlife have resided on the ranch. In this paper, we describe how livestock and wildlife interact at a water point and on pastures on the ranch in terms of biomass density. Such resources shared at different times need to be investigated further as a key factor to improve productivity of livestock-wildlife joint land use.

Alternative BSE risk assessment methodology for beef and beef offal imported into Japan.

The Food Safety Commission (FSC) of Japan, established in July 2003, has its own initiative to conduct risk assessments on food stuffs known as "self-tasking assessment". Within this framework, the FSC decided to conduct a risk assessment of beef and beef offal imported into Japan from countries with no previous BSE reports; thus, a methodology was formed to suit to this purpose. This methodology was partly based on the previous assessments of Japanese domestic beef and beef imported from U.S.A./Canada, but some modifications were made. Other organizations' assessment methods, such as those used for BSE status assessment in live cattle by the OIE and EFSA's GBR, were also consulted. In this review, the authors introduce this alternative methodology, which reflects (1) the risk of live cattle in the assessed country including temporal risks of BSE invasion and domestic propagation, with the assessment results verified by surveillance data, and (2) the risk of beef and beef offal consisting of cumulative BSE risk by types of slaughtering and meat production processes implemented and the status of mechanically recovered meat production. Other possible influencing factors such as atypical BSE cases were also reviewed. The key characteristic of the current assessment is a combination of the time-sequential risk level of live cattle and qualitative risk level of meat production at present in an assessed country.