Risk factors and control measures for subclinical salmonella infection in pig herds

In the last 20 years there was an enormous increase in pig production in several parts of the European Union. After entering of disease agents in such areas it is very easy for them to spread and to persist in the pig population. This has resulted in a situation in which a lot of pathogens continually occur in the pig population. The size of the pig farming operations and the small geographical distance between them makes it almost impossible to eliminate most of the disease agents from the populations. On the other hand there is a development in the EU-regulations that requires more and more guarantees with respect to the absence of some pathogens in the population in a non-vaccination policy. Only countries able to comply with these requirements have free entrance to the European market. A second development in this field is the increasing interest in a high quality standard of the products at the end of the pig production chain; first of all in relation to the safety of the product linked to residues and zoonoses, but further to the meat quality and at last the emotional quality for the consumer. These developments have lead to a health control policy in swine production that is based on two different tracks: the safeguarding strategy and the controlling strategy

Study plan and preliminary results of the intervention in the Salmonella status of finishing herds by adding organic acids to the drinking water of finishers

Risk factor analysis of Salmonella infections in The Netherlands showed that feeding acidified or fermented byproducts to finishers gave a strong protection against Salmonella infections. This protective effect can be explained by bactericidal effect of the organic acids present in these feeds and the low pH (pH=4). In this study we investigated the hypothesis that the same result could be obtained by adding organic acids to the drinkingwater of finishers on farms that feed their finishers compound feed

Blood sampling at two slaughterhouses and serological screening of salmonella infections in swine using an indirect ELISA

The Animal Health Service in the Netherlands is currently investigating Salmonella infections in finishing pigs in the Netherlands. The investigations combine 2 projects: the SALINPORK-project, financed by the European Union, and a national project \u27Speerpunt Salmonella\u27, financed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature management and Fisheries and the Dutch Product Board for Livestock and Meat

Resulls of a longitudinal study of Salmonella enterica infections in 5 sero-positive and 5 sero-negative finishing swine herds in The Netherlands

In order to monitor the course of Salmonella-infections in finishing pig herds, repeated sampling of consecutive batches of finishing pigs is necessary. This study followed 5 sero-negative and 5 sero-positive herds during 7 sampling rounds with 3 months between samplings

Surgery after treatment with imatinib and/or sunitinib in patients with metastasized gastrointestinal stromal tumors: Is it worthwhile?

Background: Standard treatment for metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is systemic therapy with imatinib. Surgery is performed to remove metastatic lesions to induce long-term remission or even curation. In other patients, surgery is performed to remove (focal) progressive or symptomatic lesions. The impact and long-term results of surgery after systemic therapy have not been clearly defined.Methods: Between September 2001 and May 2010, all patients with metastatic GIST who underwent surgery for metastatic GIST after systemic therapy (that is, imatinib and sunitinib) at four Dutch specialized institutions were included. Primary end-points were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).Results: All 55 patients underwent surgery after treatment with systemic therapy. At the last follow-up, tumor recurrence or progression was noted after surgery in 48% of the patients who responded on systemic therapy, and in 85% of the patients who were treated while having progressive disease. Median PFS and OS were not reached in the group of responders. In the non-responders group PFS and OS were median 4 and 25 months, respectively. Response on systemic therapy and a surgical complete resection were significantly correlated to PFS and OS.Conclusions: Surgery may play a role in responding patients. In patients with progressive disease, the role of surgery is more difficult to distinguish in this retrospective analysis since PFS is short. Which patients benefit and whether this improves long-term outcome should be established in a multicentric randomized trial

Added Value of Molecular Biological Analysis in Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Liposarcoma: A 30-Year Single-Institution Experience

Biological, physical and clinical aspects of cancer treatment with ionising radiatio