Risk Factors for Antimicrobial Resistance in Turkey Farms: A Cross-Sectional Study in Three European Countries.

Food-producing animals are an important reservoir and potential source of transmission of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to humans. However, research on AMR in turkey farms is limited. This study aimed to identify risk factors for AMR in turkey farms in three European countries (Germany, France, and Spain).

Evaluation of a simplified Herd Health and Welfare Index for benchmarking in pig herds.

Objective: Animal welfare is a topic of increasing public interest, especially interventions for improving the welfare of food-producing animals are demanded. The Herd Health and Welfare Index (HHWI) was developed for the EU-research project "EFFORT" (Ecology from Farm to Fork Of microbial drug Resistance and Transmission) to measure health and welfare without interfering with the daily work of farmers. As improving welfare by increasing animal health can contribute to the reduction of antimicrobial usage, it is of great importance to measure the quality of welfare and health of pig herds as precondition for implementing improvement measures.

Association of intestinal colonization of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in poultry slaughterhouse workers with occupational exposure-A German pilot study.

Background: Bacteria that have acquired antimicrobial resistance, in particular ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, are an important healthcare concern. Therefore, transmission routes and risk factors are of interest, especially for the carriage of ESBL-producing E. coli.

Dermatologic manifestations in end stage renal disease.

Skin manifestations are commonly seen in end stage renal disease (ESRD). Skin involvement in this population can be extensive and dramatically worsen quality of life. Close observation of the skin and nails of ESRD patients by clinicians allows for timely diagnosis and treatment, which ultimately improves quality of life and reduces mortality.

Anatomical Look Into OnabotulinumtoxinA Injection for Chronic Migraine Headache.

Background And Objectives: While existing studies about onabotulinumtoxinA for chronic migraines have focused on injection location and appropriate dosing, little consideration has been given to patient body habitus and its potential impact on efficacy. We hypothesized that with increasing patient body mass index (BMI) there would be more subcutaneous fat separating targeted muscle groups from the skin surface, such that standard 0.5-inch needles used in existing protocols may not allow intramuscular injection.

Atypical Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome: An Update on Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment.

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), a rare variant of thrombotic microangiopathy, is characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal impairment. The condition is associated with poor clinical outcomes with high morbidity and mortality. Atypical HUS predominantly affects the kidneys but has the potential to cause multi-organ system dysfunction.

[Antibiotic Use and Reduction in Veterinary Medicine].

After a short history of the development of antimicrobial substances and the initially underestimated resistance problem, the paper describes the method of monitoring the use of antibiotics in food animals at farm level. The resulting benchmarking led to a remarkable reduction of the amount of antibiotics used in animals. However, it is also explained that, apart from reducing the use of antibiotics, the rules for "prudent use" of antibiotics have to be complied with.

Pig castration: will the EU manage to ban pig castration by 2018?

Background: In 2010, the 'European Declaration on alternatives to surgical castration of pigs' was agreed. The Declaration stipulates that from January 1, 2012, surgical castration of pigs shall only be performed with prolonged analgesia and/or anaesthesia and from 2018 surgical castration of pigs should be phased out altogether. The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe together with the European Commission carried out an online survey via SurveyMonkey© to investigate the progress made in different European countries.

[Keeping pigs with undocked tails on conventionally producing farms. A feasibility study].

Objective: In this feasibility study, weaning and fattening pigs with undocked and docked tails were kept simultaneously on four conventionally producing farms in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was the aim of the study to test management recommendations to avoid and reduce tail biting under practical conditions.

Material And Methods: Before stocking, the farm-specific risk factors for tail biting had been analyzed and, if possible, reduced.

Epidemiological analysis of the dynamic and diversity of Salmonella spp. in five German pig production clusters using pheno- and genotyping methods: an exploratory study.

An exploratory study in five conventional pig production clusters was carried out to investigate the dynamic and diversity of Salmonella spp. within different production stages and sample site categories (pooled feces, direct and non-direct environment). Observing two production cycles per production cluster, a total of 1276 samples were collected along the pig production chain.

A simplified evaluation system of surface-related lung lesions of pigs for official meat inspection under industrial slaughter conditions in Germany.

Background: European and national administrative legislation require objective evaluation systems for organ lesions at pig slaughter. These results can be used as basis for herd health improvement programs by farmers and their consulting veterinarians. Various studies have shown that the current evaluation and recording of lesions by authorized meat inspectors are not reliable and produce significant inter-rater disagreement especially for lung lesions in pigs.

Comparison of the phenotypic antimicrobial resistances and spa-types of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates derived from pigs in conventional and in organic husbandry systems.

The purposes of this study were to identify differences in the phenotypic resistance to antimicrobials and in the spa-types between 273 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates derived from conventional (n = 21) versus organic pig farms (n = 10) located in Germany. The susceptibility of the isolates against 19 antimicrobial agents was tested and then compared between the two different husbandry systems. A statistically significant difference was observed between the MRSA strains isolated on conventional and on organic pig farms for the antimicrobials tilmicosin (61.

Establishment of serological herd profiles for zoonoses and production diseases in pigs by "meat juice multi-serology".

The most important pork-borne zoonotic diseases in humans such as Salmonelloses and Yersinioses cause only latent infections in pigs. Thus, the infection of pigs does not result in apparent or palpable alterations in the pig carcasses. This is the major reason, why the traditional meat inspection with adspection, palpation and incision is not able to control the food safety risks of today.

Campylobacter spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, and Salmonella enterica and their simultaneous occurrence in German fattening pig herds and their environment.

Campylobacter spp., Salmonella enterica, and Yersinia enterocolitica are common causes of foodborne infections in humans with pork as a potential source. Monitoring programs at farm level are, to date, only implemented for S.

Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from wild boars.

Eight Staphylococcus aureus isolates collected from 117 wild boars were characterized and compared to livestock isolates. They belonged to sequence types ST133, ST425, and the new type ST1643. The spa types were t1181, t6782, and the new types t6384, t6385, and t6386.

Main risk factors for Salmonella-infections in pigs in north-western Germany.

Salmonellosis is one of the major zoonotic, food-borne diseases, among others, caused by pig derived food products. As infected pigs are one of the main sources of the introduction of the bacterium into the food chain, scientific research in the last years has focussed on identifying risk factors for infection as well as developing mitigation strategies on this level of production. In order to update the knowledge of the German situation by incorporating recent changes in the German pig industry, a case-control study was set up to identify the key contributing risk factors for farms located in the western part of Lower Saxony, the region with the highest pig density in Germany.

One world--one health: the threat of emerging diseases. A European perspective.

The paper explains the concept of 'One world-one health', which aims at new paradigms to significantly reduce the risks to human and animal health due to globalization, to climate change, to the intensification of producing food with and from animals, and to changing human-animal interfaces. In Europe, the two major 'tools' for gradually implementing the principles of 'One world-one health' are (i) the application of all aspects of the so-called risk-based meat inspection taking into account the entire food chain from 'farm to fork', and (ii) the application of all aspects of the 'European Union Animal Health Strategy 2007-2013'.

[Comparing the results of the serological detection of Salmonella antibodies in blood serum and meat juice from different muscles from slaughter pigs].

The German Salmonella Monitoring Programme started by the QS-System in 2002 (Blaha, 2004) is mandatory due to the so-called "Salmonella Regulation for Pigs" since 2007 (Anonym, 2007). The Regulation does not clearly prescribe the specific muscle which is to be taken as source of the meat juice. Thus, at different slaughter plants meat samples are also taken from different muscles and several scientific papers describe various muscles as source of the meat juice, too.

[Investigations into the use of respiratory masks for reducing the MRSA-exposure of veterinarians visiting regularly pig herds--first experiences].

The study presents first experiences on the controlled use of respiratory masks against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a multi-person veterinary pig practice. Seven veterinarians entered the trial (five wearing masks, two wearing no masks) after the veterinarians had performed a decolonisation protocol. The pig herds were visited regularly by the veterinarians during the study period.

Serological Salmonella monitoring in German pig herds: results of the years 2003-2008.

The implementation of the European regulations regarding zoonoses demands objective and scientific statements regarding the status of the Salmonella prevalence in the national pig herds of all EU member states. Since 2002, the "QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH" has carried out serological Salmonella monitoring in German finishing pig herds. All data generated within the monitoring system are entered into the central database Qualiproof(®) (Qualitype AG, Dresden).

A case-control study on the occurrence of Salmonella spp. in the environment of pigs.

The objective of this study was to compare the occurrence of Salmonella spp. found in the animal environment in pig herds with different Salmonella risks (61 herds with low seroprevalence, 81 herds with high seroprevalence) on a broad scale. The environmental samples were divided into two types: direct (n=1105) and indirect (n=1220) environmental samples.

[Intra-herd prevalence and colonisation dynamics of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in two pig breeding herds].

This study presents data on the intra-herd prevalence and colonisation dynamics of Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and Methicillin-sensible (MSSA) Staphylococcus aureus in two independent pig herds located in the Northwest of Germany. Swabs taken from the nasal cavity of sows and piglets, from the udder of the sows and from the direct environment of the pigs were tested microbiologically for MRSA and MSSA. The piglets were identified individually, tested at birth and then swabbed again every 3 weeks from birth to sale at the end of nursery with 25 kg (farm A), and at slaughter respectively (farm B).

Livestock associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LaMRSA) isolated from lesions of pigs at necropsy in northwest Germany between 2004 and 2007.

An increasing number of reported detections of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in food animals since 2007 has led to the assumption that there is an emerging zoonotic problem with livestock associated (la)MRSA potentially aggravating the MRSA problem in humans. It was the objective of the study to investigate, whether MRSA was present in clinical specimens of pigs collected at post-mortem since 2004 and to further characterize these isolates. We studied 138 isolates of S.

[Occurrence of MRSA in pigs and in humans involved in pig production--preliminary results of a study in the northwest of Germany].

In 2007, 678 pigs of all age groups out of 347 different farms from Lower Saxony and Northrhine-Westphalia and 86 persons occupationally exposed to pigs were investigated for their nasal colonisation with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus areus (MRSA) by the Field Station for Epidemiology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and the Robert Koch-Institute. At the individual animal level, a frequency of positive results of 13% (n = 85 positive animals) and at the herd level, a frequency of positive results of 18% (n = 62 positive herds) were found. All isolates were assigned to the Multilocus Sequence Typing Type ST398.