UK-wide risk factor study of broiler carcases highly contaminated with Campylobacter.

Campylobacter is a major cause of food poisoning and is typically the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the UK. Data collected at broiler farm and abattoir level, for slaughter batches that were sampled for UK-wide monitoring, were used to generate two epidemiological risk factor models. A total of 483 batches slaughtered between January 2016 and March 2017 were used in the analysis, coming from 19 abattoirs representing more than 85% of UK broiler production.

The effectiveness of short-duration in-feed organic acid use in finisher pigs for Salmonella control at slaughter.

Reducing the risk of Salmonella contaminated pork products entering the food chain is important for improving food safety. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the short-duration use of three acidified feed interventions in finisher pigs for reducing the faecal shedding, caecal carriage and carcase contamination of Salmonella at slaughter. We also investigated the presence of Salmonella in transportation vehicles and abattoir lairages used prior to slaughter.

A genomic epidemiological study shows that prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in is associated with the livestock host, as well as antimicrobial usage.

Enterobacterales from livestock are potentially important reservoirs for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to pass through the food chain to humans, thereby increasing the AMR burden and affecting our ability to tackle infections. In this study 168 isolates from four genera of the order , primarily , were purified from livestock (cattle, pigs and sheep) faeces from 14 farms in the United Kingdom. Their genomes were resolved using long- and short-read sequencing to analyse AMR genes and their genetic context, as well as to explore the relationship between AMR burden and on-farm antimicrobial usage (AMU), in the three months prior to sampling.

Measuring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexually Transmitted Diseases Public Health Surveillance and Program Operations in the State of California.

Background: As public health personnel and resources are redirected to COVID-19, sexually transmitted diseases (STD) programs have been unable to sustain pre-COVID-19 activities.

Methods: We used California (CA) surveillance data to describe trends in case reporting for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis of any stage in the pre- versus post-COVID-19 eras (January-June 2019 and January-June 2020). We also analyzed data from an electronic survey administered by the CA STD Control Branch to local health jurisdictions in April, June, and September of 2020, assessing the impact of COVID-19 on STD programs.