Vesna Dobranić

Prevalence of Cysticercus bovis in slaughtered cattle determined by traditional meat inspection in Croatian abattoir from 2005 to 2010

SummaryThe aim of this work was to evaluate the presence of Cysticercus bovis of slaughtered cattle in a Croatian slaughterhouse between 2005 and 2010. In total, 203 166 carcasses and organs were examined, of which in 228 C. bovis was found (0.11 %). The highest number of cysticercosis was found in cows (0.69 %, n = 13 605), then in steers (0.093 %; n = 134 212), and the lowest in calves (0.014 %; n = 55 349). Among the 228 positive specimens, 129 (56.57 %) came from rural estates and 99 (43.43 %) from farms. The ratio of invaded steers from rural estates (n = 2 790) and from farm breed (n = 131 422) was 1.075 %: 0.064 %, calves (n = 316 and n = 55 033) 0.316 %: 0.012 %, and cows (n = 8 985 and n = 4 620) 097 %: 0.15 %. The number of cysticercosis invaded cattle decreased from the initial 0.37 % to 0.07 %. Despite low prevalence, we consider that each positive result requires an individual epidemiologic study in order to decrease the risk even more.

Microbiological quality of soft, semi-hard and hard cheeses during the shelf-life

Abstract Cheeses as ready-to-eat food should be considered as a potential source of foodborne pathogens, primarily Listeria monocytogenes. The aim of present study was to determine the microbiological quality of soft, semi-hard and hard cheeses during the shelf-life, with particular reference to L. monocytogenes. Five types of cheeses were sampled at different time-points during the cold storage and analyzed for presence of Salmonella and L. monocytogenes, as well as lactic acid bacteria, Escherichia coli, coagulase-positive staphylococci, yeasts, molds, sulfite-reducing clostridia and L. monocytogenes counts. Water activity, pH and NaCl content were monitored in order to evaluate the possibility of L. monocytogenes growth. Challenge test for L. monocytogenes was performed in soft whey cheese, to determine the growth potential of pathogen during the shelf-life of product. All analyzed cheeses were compliant with microbiological criteria during the shelf-life. In soft cheeses, lactic acid bacteria increased in the course of the shelf-life period (1.2-2.6 log increase), while in semi-hard and hard cheeses it decreased (1.6 and 5.2 log decrease, respectively). Soft cheeses support the growth of L. monocytogenes according to determined pH values (5.8-6.5), water activity (0.99-0.94), and NaCl content (0.3-1.2%). Challenge test showed that L. monocytogenes growth potential in selected soft cheese was 0.43 log10 cfu/g during 8 days at 4°C. Water activity in semi-hard and hard cheeses was a limiting factor for Listeria growth during the shelf-life. Soft, semi-hard and hard cheeses were microbiologically stable during their defined shelf-life. Good manufacturing and hygienic practices must be strictly followed in the production of soft cheeses as Listeria-supporting food and be focused on preventing (re)contamination.

Low motivation and unawareness in small farmers as an obstacle for implementation of the EU pig welfare rules

Abstract Using semi-structured interviews, Croatian pig farmers and institutional stakeholders were asked about their intentions to improve pig welfare, future perspectives, opinions and communication efforts on the EU pig welfare directives. While full-time family farmers (FFF) and employees at farm enterprises (EFE) expressed interest in improving pig welfare on their farms as a prerequisite for increasing competitiveness in the future, part-time family farmers (PFF) were not interested in pig welfare because they did not want to increase productivity and feared for their existence. Communication between institutional stakeholders and FFF with more than ten sows is best stablished, whereas communication with EFE is more via private consultants and communication with PFF is lacking. As Croatia is today counting over 85% farms as production units with up to 10 sows covering 75% of whole pig production, these results represent considerably important indicators of necessity to approach this population of farmers.

Influence of housing systems on stillbirth and mortality rate in preweaning pigs farrowed by different gilt breeds

Abstract The aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of housing systems on stillbirth and mortality rate in preweaning pigs farrowed by different gilt breeds. The investigation included first farrowings of 225 Large White (LW) gilts, 297 Swedish Landrace (SL) gilts and 260 crossbreed gilts (LWxSL) in the period of five years. Despite of positive influence of straw through decreased number of stillborn pigs, especially in LW gilts, in further process of production until weaning, less appropriate microclimatic conditions developed in farrowing houses with straw, especially if accompanied with poor ventilation, can result with higher number of perished pigs and lower number of weaned pigs. Most sensible to unsuitable microclimatic conditions in straw bedded farrowing houses, according to the number of perished pigs before weaning, were the pigs from SL gilts, while the pigs from crossbreed gilts LWxSL were the most resistant. These results suggest that adding straw requires special attention on influence of such production on microclimate conditions in pigs’ biozone in order to maintain its initial benefits in the time of farrowing through the whole preweaning period, especially in pure breeds of gilts.

Relevance of paraoxonase-1, platelet- activating factor acetylhydrolase and serum amyloid A in bovine mastitis

Bovine mastitis is the most economically important production disease in dairy cows. The pathogenesis of mastitis involves an inflammatory reaction resulting from production of cytokines at the site of infection. Proinflammatory cytokines stimulate the synthesis of acute phase proteins (APPs) predominantly in liver but also in other tissues including mammary gland (Eckersall et al., 2006). Serum amyloid A (SAA) is one of the major APP in ruminants whose concentration rises dramatically during acute phase response (APR). During APR, SAA associates rapidly with high density lipoproteins (HDL), displacing apo A-1 (the major apolipoprotein of native HDL) and becoming the predominant apolipoprotein (apo SAA) in HDL. Native HDL contains paraoxonase-1 (PON1) and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH), both antioxidative/anti-inflammatory enzymes being responsible for anti-inflammatory/anti-oxidative properties of HDL. Concomitantly with SAA enrichment of HDL during APR, PON1 and PAF-AH levels decrease within HDL, what impairs anti-oxidative properties of HDL which from an anti-inflammatory particle becomes a proinflammatory particle, i.e. acute phase HDL (AP-HDL) (Van Lenten at al., 1995).