Restricted use of antibiotics in organic pig farming

Can the restricted use of antibiotics in organic pig farming be documented to provide a safer, high quality meat product with less antibiotic resistant bacteria? The project SafeOrganic aims to document that the restricted use of antimicrobials in organic pig production leads to lower levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria compared with the level in conventional pigs. However, the project will also address the risk of losing this quality parameter, due to a widespread practice of slaughtering organic pigs together with conventional pigs,implying a risk of cross-contamination

SafeOrganic - Restrictive use of antibiotics in organic animal farming – a potential for safer, high quality products with less antibiotic resistant bacteria

Main research questions: Antimicrobial resistance (AR) in the food-chain is a concern due to risk of treatment failure of humans. - Do restrictions on antimicrobial (AB) usage in organic pig production lead to lower AR levels in organic pigs compared to conventional ones? - Is lower AR a quality trait of organic pork? - Does slaughtering of organic and conventional pigs together abolish this potential quality trait? - Can markers for imprudent AR use in organic pig herds be identified

Salmonella bakterier kan spredes blandt økologiske grise

Forsøg har vist, at Salmonella bakterier kan overføres fra smittede økogrise til salmonella-frie grise holdt på udendørs arealer. Desuden kan salmonellabakterier overleve i foldmiljøet og under visse betingelser smitte salmonella-frie grise, som senere indsættes i folden. Overaskende blev der fundet flere forskellige typer af salmonellabakterier i både grisene og i foldmiljøet i løbet af forsøgsperioden

Spread of salmonella in organic pigs

Pigs inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium were grouped with non-infected tracerpigs to determine the transmission of salmonella between organic outdoor animals. The results indicated that the organic pigs were perceptive to infections but that the susceptibility varied considerably between pigs. Bacteriological examinations of soil and water samples from the pasture environment showed the ability of salmonella to survive in the non-host environment, and under some favoruable conditions pose an infection risk for new pigs introduced onto the contaminated pastures

Salmonella infection risk associated with outdoor organic pig production

For organic pig production little information is available about potential food safety problems with respect to zoonotic bacteria like salmonella. The aim of the current study was to examine the salmonella infection dynamics in organic pigs through an outdoor experimental set-up. Pigs inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium were grouped with non-infected tracerpigs to determine the transmission of salmonella between animals. The results indicated that the organic pigs were perceptive to infections but that the susceptibility varied considerably between pigs. Furthermore, bacteriological examinations of soil and water samples from the pasture environment showed the ability of salmonella to survive in the non-host environment. Moreover, introduction of salmonella-free pigs into such naturally contaminated pastures caused salmonella-infections in some of the pigs, but mainly where the infection rate had been high previously. Elimination of salmonella-infected animals at an early stage would minimize the build up of high contamination levels and this could probably help to control the spread and persistence of salmonella in outdoor pigs