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Contamination of Pig Carcasses at Two Abattoirs by Escherichia coli with Special Reference to O‐serotypes and Antibiotic Resistance
Author(s) -
LINTON A. H.,
HANDLEY BARBARA,
OSBORNE A. D.,
SHAW B. G.,
ROBERTS T. A.,
HUDSON W. R.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1977.tb00673.x
Subject(s) - serotype , feces , veterinary medicine , contamination , biology , escherichia coli , fecal coliform , antibiotics , antibiotic resistance , antibiotic sensitivity , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , medicine , ecology , water quality , biochemistry , gene
Evidence of the source of carcass contamination of pigs at slaughter was obtained by determining presumptive coliform counts on faeces and on carcass surfaces, and comparing the O‐serotypes and antibiotic sensitivity patterns of Escherichia coli from both sites. All of the 16 pig carcasses from the slaughter line of a commercial abattoir were contaminated with presumptive coliform bacilli on most sites examined; the carcasses of six out of eight pigs slaughtered at the Meat Research Institute (MRI) abattoir were also contaminated, but only small numbers of coliforms could be detected on a few of the sites. The proportion of O‐serotypes of E. coli present in faeces which were also detected on carcass surfaces, indicating faecal contamination, varied between 0 and 8.6% in MRI slaughtered pigs but reached 66.6% in one group of commercially slaughtered pigs. O‐serotypes found on carcass surfaces but not in the faeces of the pigs, were used as an indication of environmental contamination and this was very evident in the commercially slaughtered pigs. A high proportion of E. coli O‐serotypes in the gut were resistant to antibiotics and these were also often found on the carcass surface and, since the range of O‐serotypes in the pig is similar to that reported in man, the pig must be considered to be a potential reservoir of antibiotic resistant E. coli for man.