Publications by authors named "Blandon S"

Market hog lymph nodes (LNs) can contaminate carcasses with Salmonella, as well as ground and comminuted pork products. The objective of this study was to perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of LNs from several regions and seasons in the United States to establish a Salmonella prevalence and concentration baseline. Six types of LNs (axillary, mesenteric, subiliac, tracheobronchial, superficial inguinal, prescapular), and tonsils were sampled from market hog carcasses from different regions (east, central, and west) and seasons (winter, spring, and summer/fall).

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Bio-mapping studies play an important role, as the data collected can be managed and analyzed in multiple ways to look at process trends, find explanations about the effect of process changes, activate a root cause analysis for events, and even compile performance data to demonstrate to inspection authorities or auditors the effect of certain decisions made on a daily basis and their effects over time in commercial settings not only from the food safety perspective but also from the production side. This study presents an alternative analysis of bio-mapping data collected throughout several months in a commercial poultry processing operation as described in the article "Bio-Mapping Indicators and Pathogen Loads in a Commercial Broiler Processing Facility Operating with High and Low Antimicrobial Interventions". The conducted analysis identifies the processing shift effect on microbial loads, attempts to find correlation between microbial indicators data and pathogens loads, and identifies novel visualization approaches and conducts distribution analysis for microbial indicators and pathogens in a commercial poultry processing facility.

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the food safety efficacy of common antimicrobial interventions at and above required uptake levels for processing aids on the reduction of Shiga-toxin producing (STEC) and spp. through spray and dip applications. Beef trim was inoculated with specific isolates of STEC or strains.

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The goal of this study was to develop a rapid RT-PCR enumeration method for in pork and beef lymph nodes (LNs) utilizing BAX-System-SalQuant as well as to assess the performance of the methodology in comparison with existing ones. For study one: PCR curve development, pork, and beef LNs (n = 64) were trimmed, sterilized, pulverized, spiked with 0.00 to 5.

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The objective of the study was to determine the impact of antimicrobial interventions and refrigerated dark storage on the shelf-life of pork chops. Boneless pork loins ( = 36) were split and stored for 1, 14, 28, and 42 days at 2-4 °C after being treated with the following antimicrobials: water (WAT), Bovibrom 225 ppm (BB225), Bovibrom 500 ppm (BB500), Fit Fresh 3 ppm (FF3), or washing solution 750 ppm (WS750). After the end of dark storage, pork loins were further processed and sliced into chops, overwrapped in trays, and displayed for up to an additional 96 h in a retail case.

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Factors affecting immunogenicity of the first 2 doses of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) among unimmunized Mayan infants were prospectively evaluated. The relative impact of multiple variables, including mass or routine vaccination, concurrent enteric bacterial (salmonella, shigella, and campylobacter) and viral (adenovirus 40/41, astrovirus, nonpolio enteroviruses, and rotavirus) infections, interference among Sabin vaccine viruses, and preexisting poliovirus antibodies were studied. Sera were available from 181 infants after 2 OPV doses.

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