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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #82412
Title: USE OF THE DANISH MIX-ELISA IN SALMONELLA MONITORING

Author
item BAUM, D - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item HARRIS, D - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item NIELSEN, B - DANISH VET LAB, DENMARK
item Cray, Paula
item STECKLEBERG, K - DVM, CONRAD, IA

Submitted to: American Association of Swine Practitioners Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/4/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Foodborne infections caused by the ingestion of Salmonella are of major concern in the United States. Many outbreaks of Salmonella have been associated with contaminated animal products, including pork and pork products. Efforts to reduce the levels of Salmonella contamination in pork may rely on rapid economical methods of detecting farms that produce slaughter pigs with high levels of Salmonella. Recently an indirect ELISA (mix-ELISA) was developed in Denmark for the purpose of identifying such farms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mix-ELISA as an indicator of Salmonella infection in pigs. There was a significant direct correlation between the presence of Salmonella in ileocecal lymph nodes and the titer of antibody to Salmonella in meat juice. It was also demonstrated that there is no significant correlation between titer of antibody in serum collected from pigs immediately prior to slaughter and the presence of Salmonella in the feces on the floor of pens. These conclusions suggest that the level of antibody to Salmonella in meat juice can be used to determine whether or not groups of pigs at slaughter contain Salmonella in their ileocecal lymph nodes.