Effect of separate transport, lairage, and slaughter on occurrence of Salmonella Typhimurium on slaughter carcasses

The study aimed to reduce cross-contamination between finishers from Salmonella-positive and Salmonella-negative herds during transport, lairage, and slaughter, thereby reducing the prevalence of Salmonella Typhimurium on slaughter carcasses. In Phase I of the study, pigs from Salmonella-negative herds were kept in lairage for 2-4 hours either in clean pens (intervention group) or pens contaminated with Salmonella-infected faeces (control group). All pigs were slaughtered on the same slaughterline, and carcass swabs 24 hours after slaughter revealed a low degree of cross-contamination in the pens: there was no difference in Salmonella-positive carcasses between intervention (1.7 %) and control groups (0.8 %)