Foodborne pathogens monitoring in pigs in the Veneto region of Italy

摘要

At the European level the control of foodborne diseases is defined by the new zoonoses legislation (Directive 2003/99/CE and Regulation (CE) 2160/2003), which points out the necessity to establish surveillance programmes for zoonotic agents in animal populations. From 2002 to 2004 baseline studies have been performed in the Veneto Region of Italy to define the prevalence of Salmonella, Campylobacter, antimicrobial resistance indicators in the most important animal species farmed and slaughtered in this area. The monitoring scheme applied allowed to precisely assess the prevalence for different pathogens and animal species, and was adjusted after the first year of application in order to detect defined variations in prevalence, with a reduced number of samples. In this paper authors will describe methods and results of the monitoring scheme applied in pigs at slaughter.