Hector is a Research Officer in the Food Safety Department of the Teagasc Food Research Centre in Ashtown, Dublin 15. He has a doctorate in veterinary medicine and a PhD in gastrointestinal diseases in pigs from the University of León in Spain.
The Teagasc project on which I work involves a range of on-farm and post-farm tasks, aimed at reducing the risk of pork being contaminated by Salmonella. The main aim of the project is to help producers and the pork industry to deal with the challenge of controlling Salmonella in swine.
The project is entitled Low-cost solutions to control Salmonella in pigs, and we disseminated our findings to farmers through newsletters, conferences, publications as well as group meetings in Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Offaly, and at the Pig Farmers’ Conference in Cavan in October.
My research looks at factors related to the presence or absence of Salmonella on pig farms. I am carrying out a survey to see which farm practices decrease or increase the risk of Salmonella getting into a herd.
Identifying important factors
One factor usually related to Salmonella, for example, is the feed used. Meal feed seems to be better than pellet feed. The digestion of meal feed is less efficient and more nutrients go to the hindgut and help support a healthy population of Lactobacillus. This reduces gut pH and doesn’t let Salmonella attach to the gut wall so easily.
Part of my survey focuses on herd characteristics. In some countries, it has been found that the bigger the herd size, the greater chance of Salmonella. Larger farms have more replacement of animals from outside, but that might not be the case in the Republic of Ireland because animals tend be replaced on farm. This is why it’s important to run these surveys in every country – what’s done in the UK, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands might not be done in the Republic of Ireland.
In the European Union, laying hens and chickens are the two main sources of Salmonella in people; pigs usually come third. But, with levels of Salmonella in poultry decreasing, the relative importance of pork in human disease is increasing. It now causes an estimated 10 to 20 percent of cases.
Educating farmers
We want to repeat the success in poultry with pork, while keeping down the cost to farmers. Salmonella is usually a subclinical disease in pigs, meaning animals don’t usually get sick. It can be a challenge to convince a farmer of the importance of this disease because it’s not causing illness on his farm, although I’ve visited farms with pigs sick from the disease.
While Salmonella is important to control so that it does not cause public health issues, it’s also an economic issue. The Republic of Ireland exports pork to other European countries, some of which have limitations around Salmonella-infected meat.
The main source of Salmonella is believed to be new animals. Teagasc research has shown 1 to 2 percent of pig feed can be contaminated with Salmonella, but wild animals such as rodents are likely to be more important sources. A clear step farmers can take is to ensure better control of rodents on their farms.
We are also looking at other measures, such as switching from dry to wet feed, adjusting the protein content of feed, and cleaning and disinfecting facilities once an infected animal is found. Probiotics might be useful too. I’m running trials on Irish pigs to see whether adding certain organic acids to their diet can reduce Salmonella prevalence, by creating a gut environment that harms the bacteria.
Away from work, I enjoy running in the Phoenix Park and I love the live music scene in Dublin.
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