<i>Salmonella</i> Control in Fattening Pigs through the Use of Esterified Formic Acid in Drinking Water Shortly before Slaughter
María Bernad-Roche | Clara María Marín-Alcalá | Juan Pablo Vico | Raúl Carlos Mainar-Jaime
The presence of <i>Salmonella</i> in pig feces is a major source of abattoir and carcass contamination, and one of the main sources of human salmonellosis. This study assessed whether using a form of esterified formic acid (30% formic acid) in drinking water (10 kg/1000 L) 5 days before slaughter could be a helpful strategy to mitigate this public health issue. Thus, 240 pigs from three <i>Salmonella</i>-positive commercial fattening farms were selected. From each farm, 40 pigs were allocated to a control group (CG) and 40 to a treatment group (TG). At the abattoir, fecal samples from both groups were collected for <i>Salmonella</i> detection (ISO 6579-1:2017) and quantification (ISO/TS 6579-2:2012). <i>Salmonella</i> was present in 35% (95% IC = 29.24–41.23) of the samples collected. The prevalence was significantly higher in the CG than in the TG (50% vs. 20%; <i>p</i> < 0.001). In all farms, the TG showed a lower percentage of shedders than the CG. A random-effects logistic model showed that the odds of shedding <i>Salmonella</i> were 5.63 times higher (95% CI = 2.92–10.8) for the CG than for the TG. Thus, the proportion of pigs shedding <i>Salmonella</i> that was prevented in the TG due to the use of this form of organic acid was 82.2%. In addition, a <i>Chi</i>-squared analysis for trends showed that the higher the <i>Salmonella</i> count, the higher the odds of the sample belonging to the CG. These results suggest that adding this type of acid to drinking water 5 days before slaughter could reduce the proportion of <i>Salmonella</i>-shedding pigs and the <i>Salmonella</i> loads in the guts of shedder pigs.
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