Development and test of a visual-only meat inspection system for heavy pigs in Northern Italy.

BACKGROUND: There is a general consensus in recognizing that traditional meat inspection is no longer able to address the hazards related to meat consumption. Moreover, it has been shown that invasive procedures, such as palpation and incision, can increase microbial contamination in carcasses. For these reasons, legislations all over the world are changing meat inspection techniques, moving towards visual-only techniques. Hence, there was also the need to test visual-only inspection in pigs in Italy. RESULTS: A protocol for visual-only post-mortem inspection was produced together with a 24-class scheme used to record pathological lesions. A list of guidelines needed for univocal interpretation and classification of lesions was developed. To record lesions at the slaughtering line, a light instrument that is resistant to the slaughter environment was designed and then produced in collaboration with an electro-medical company. Six contracted veterinarians were chosen and trained. They performed visual-only post-mortem inspections on 231.673 heavy pigs in three different slaughterhouses of Northern Italy. Visual-only inspection was compared to traditional inspection on 38.819 pig carcasses. No relevant differences were found between the two systems. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison between traditional and visual-only inspection showed that visual-only inspection can be adopted in pig slaughterhouse. The analysis of the performance of the veterinarians stressed the importance of standardization and continuous education for veterinarians working in this field.

A large prolonged outbreak of hepatitis A associated with consumption of frozen berries, Italy, 2013-14.

PURPOSE: In 2013/2014, Italy experienced one of the largest community-wide prolonged outbreaks of hepatitis A virus (HAV) throughout the country. The article provides a comprehensive description of the outbreak and the investigation carried out by a multidisciplinary National Task Force, in collaboration with regional and local public health authorities. Control strategies of food-borne HAV infection in both the human and food sectors are also described. METHODOLOGY: Enhanced human epidemiological and microbiological surveillance together with microbiological monitoring of HAV in food and trace-back investigation were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 1803 HAV cases were identified from 1 January 2013 to 31 August 2014, in Italy. Sequencing was possible for 368 cases (20.4 %), mostly collected between 1 January 2013 and 28 February 2014, and 246 cases (66.8 %) harboured an HAV outbreak strain. Imported frozen berries contaminated with HAV were identified as the vehicle of the outbreak which also involved many other European countries in 2013 and 2014. Epidemiological evidence obtained through a case-control study was supported by the finding of a 100 % nucleotide similarity of the VP1/2A sequences of HAVs detected in human and food samples. Trace-back investigation revealed an extremely complex supplying network with no possibility for a point source potentially explaining the vast contamination of berries found in Italy. CONCLUSION: The investigation benefited from an excellent collaboration among different sectors who shared proactively the available information. Our findings highlight the importance of considering frozen berries among the highest risk factors for HAV.