Salmonella control in the food chain. (Part 1, II, III

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Part I: Are you doing enough to control Salmonella

Salmonella ranks among the world´s biggest threats to health. In the United States alone, it is thought to be responsible for around 378 deaths and an estimated 19,336 hospitalisations each year. And these are just the reported cases. If you´ve ever had to take a few days off work with a nasty case of "food poisoning", but not bothered the doctor to get it treated, there´s a chance you´ve had a close encounter with this unpleasant little bug without becoming one of the statistics yourself. Salmonella ranks second on the food poisoning leader-board in the US where it´s the premier bacterial food-borne disease

Yet the name Salmonella doesn´t leave us quaking in our boots in the same way as the world´s other major killers, which, according to the latest statistics from the World Health Organization, might include heart disease, cancer, AIDS, or road traffic accidents depending on whereabouts in the world you´re based. It doesn´t generate the same levels of media frenzy as SARS or bird flu, though perhaps it should. It'´s certainly serious enough to merit significant attention from the WHO and the US-based Center for Disease Control. Developing and implementing effective Salmonella monitoring, reporting and control systems has been prioritised in many countries

Where does it come from

Salmonella is often associated with poultry products - chicken and eggs, but it would be a mistake to assume that these are the only food sources that can transmit the disease. Birds are a major source, but it´s also been spread through salad vegetables and peanuts. If we can eat it, there´s a good chance that the bacteria can live on it, or at least survive long enough to be carried into an animal (or person)´s digestive tract

Since its discovery in the late 19th Century, more than 2,500 different types (serovars) have been discovered. All of these can cause disease in humans, which is most commonly associated with acute gastroenteritis - fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and nausea, sometimes with vomiting. More often than not, this clears up within a week of infection without treatment. However, if the pathogen enters the bloodstream, or the disease leads to dehydration, effective antibiotic treatment can be a lifesaver. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable, as are people with weakened immune systems

The health statistics also make for some sobering economic facts. In the US, for instance, the Center for Disease Control recently estimated a total annual cost of US$3 billion associated with Salmonella. Similar calculations from Denmark in 2001took this further, suggesting that spending the equivalent of US$14.1 million implementing a Salmonella control programme actually resulted in a net saving of US$25.5 million to the national economy

Why should I be worried

Like other foodborne bugs, Salmonella is developing resistance to the drugs we use to treat it. Much of the blame has fallen with animal production. Preventing or treating diarrhoeal diseases in livestock has played a major part in the development of multi-drug resistant strains. The two most commonly seen serovars in human salmonellosis epidemics, Salmonella enteritidis and S. typhimurium have emerged over the past 30 years in parallel with intensive animal husbandry. Now, we find bacteria, including these two, with worryingly high levels of resistance against the antibiotics we use to treat them. Antibiotic resistance in Salmonella has two major consequences that cause the medical profession so much concern. Firstly, patients taking an antibiotic for unrelated infections, for example a chest infection, are more risk of contracting antibiotic-resistant Salmonella infections. Secondly, treatment for salmonella fails more frequently, causing prolonged or more severe illness, increased hospitalisations and more deaths. A recent US review estimated that antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella may result in 30,000 more infections each year, leading to 300 more hospitalisations and 10 deaths. Salmonella is a big risk to the world´s economies. But it´s a risk that can be reduced. All along the food chain, experts have identified points at which intervention can help reduce the risk of Salmonella infection

Passing the blame won´t work

Bacteria appear on food all the time, but clearly when a disease-causing one appears, it´s a big problem. The food chain, however, is complex, involving a lot of different inputs and a lot of movement from one place to another. There are a plenty of opportunities for a pathogen like Salmonella to get in - and if it can, it will. Perhaps part of the reason that Salmonella is so common is that it´s always somebody else'´s problem. Consumer can inadvertently contaminate their own food through inadequate basic hygiene and cooking practices, but it the bug was already on the food when it was bought - it´s the supermarket´s problem. The supermarket could be liable, but if that product was already contaminated before it arrived there - it´s the processor´s problem. There are plenty of opportunities for Salmonella to contaminate food during processing (including slaughter), but if the bug was already present - it´s the producer´s problem; and, you´ ve guessed it, if the feed is identified as the cause of the contamination at farm level - the blame is passed all the way back to the feed mill. Obviously the reality isn´t just a simple game of "passing the buck": Salmonella is a serious business, causing severe financial losses and damage to the reputation of all concerned

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Part II: Antibiotic resistance from farm to fork

When we catch a bug, we visit a doctor and get a dose of something to cure us of it; so why not just blast Salmonella with a dose of antibiotics and let that be the end of it? Simple question: not such a simple answer

Since they were first discovered in the 1940´s, antibiotics have become the standard solution. The doctor prescribes them, the vet prescribes them and for the past 50 years or so they have been used to prevent diseases in farm animals from causing economic damage: while farm animals can recover from bacterial diseases, their reduced productivity makes it more viable to prevent disease instead of treat it. Many antibiotics, when used at sub-therapeutic doses (much lower than the dose needed to treat disease), have also been found to improve the growth of livestock: they turn feed into meat, milk, or eggs much more cost-effectively

However, almost as soon as the growth-promoting properties of antibiotics in farm animals had become standard practice, reports began to appear in the scientific literature that showed that the bacteria were becoming immune to the drugs. There are a number of ways in which bacteria can develop immunity, but in the case of prophylactic antibiotics, it may be a case of "what doesn´t kill you makes you stronger" When an antibiotic is used at a low dose, it might actually help make that bug immune. This resistant strain will go on and multiply to produce a whole population capable of infecting anything they come into contact with - it becomes more prevalent in the population - a lesson which Germany has recently learned to its cost during the recent enterohemorrhagic E. coli outbreak (3250 people infected; 49 deaths so far). Using antibiotics has just increased the "selection pressure" in a natural process of bacterial evolution, by exposing them to agents that they then develop resistance to. The more we use antibiotics in animal and human health, the more chance there is of the bacteria developing resistance

Alarming news emerged in a report from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in the European Union. Taking all strains of Salmonella into account, 60% of them are already multi-drug resistant

"''''The proportion of Salmonella and E. coli isolates resistant to ampicillin, sulfonamides and tetracycline varied between 5 and 68 % in poultry, pigs and cattle. Some Member States reported a high occurrence of fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella isolates from poultry (5-38%

This is one of the regions in the world with the most stringent Salmonella surveillance and control systems. This can happen everywhere

It has become clear that we have been arming our enemies for decades. Multiple resistance is now a big problem. If antibiotic resistance is transmitted to more common food-borne pathogens like Salmonella and Campylobacter, resistance could become a major problem, especially in vulnerable groups of people. When a patient develops a disease caused by one of these resistant bugs, the first antibiotic used against it might not be the one that works, giving the bacteria time to cause more damage

Salmonella control in the food chain is an essential part of preventing illness and reducing the risk of developing antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Many countries have already banned the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock, including broilers and laying hens. For such control systems to be effective, every step of the food chain, from feed raw materials to home preparation has to be scrutinized. Integrated food chain surveillance systems for Salmonella are already in force in many countries

In the poultry production chain, for example (both layers and broilers), there are many points in which intervention may be successful. All inputs into poultry production (including vermin, water, feed, visitors and new stock) need to be protected. Next to hygiene and management interventions, the control of Salmonella via dietary means has become very popular. Beginning decades ago with the use of antibiotics, which used to serve this purpose, but whose use is in decline due to emerging resistance, alternative dietary strategies have attracted much attention. It is well accepted that feed hygiene is successful in preventing accidental Salmonella contamination in the poultry house from developing into a food contamination problem. Naturally, feed producers are attracted by alternative feed-based control strategies

المصدر: http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-industry/health/articles/salmonella-control-in-food-chain

Dr.Khairy

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نشرت فى 2 نوفمبر 2011 بواسطة Khairy4712

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