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Simple Summary: A common belief is that animal shelters still have a high occurrence of disease. Few studies are available describing the current situation in animal shelters. We characterized this issue with an online questionnaire sent to animal shelters in Portugal. Apart from municipal animal shelters, other types of animal shelters were also included, such as associations which are non-profit organizations. The response to this questionnaire was voluntary. More veterinarians responded for municipal shelters, whereas more non-vets answered the questionnaire on behalf of associations. Preventive measures such as worming, vaccination and the use individual animal medical records were widespread among both shelter types. Many shelters indicated keeping animals for over 1 year. This excessive length of stay should be reduced, for example by better training of staff and the availability of adequate shelter management software. Puppy re-vaccination every 2 to 4 weeks was indicated by both shelter types and final vaccination at 16 weeks was predominantly indicated by associations. Most adult animals were revaccinated annually. The three most reported diseases were parvovirus and mange in dogs, cat flu and panleukopenia in cats, and ringworm in both species. Additional information on disease occurrence should be obtained by objective monitoring. Few studies are available describing animal shelters in Portugal. The aim was to characterize prophylactic measures and disease occurrence in shelters with a questionnaire. The response rates of 67 shelters (42 municipal shelters, 25 associations) were compared by the Fisher's exact test. More veterinarians answered for municipal shelters (98%) than for associations (40%; p < 0.001). Over 80% of the respondents indicated using individual medical records and routine prophylaxis. Excessive length of stay for dogs was reported by 54% of associations and 33% of municipal shelters. Management tools should be promoted to improve the situation. Puppy vaccinations were similar and a final vaccination at 16 weeks was indicated by >33% of shelters. Annual revaccination of dogs was reported more frequently by associations (88%) than municipal shelters (55%; p = 0.02). The three most reported diseases were parvovirus and mange in dogs, upper respiratory disease and panleukopenia in cats, and dermatophytosis in both species. Similar response rates for diagnostic options were obtained by both shelter types, except for distemper. Testing for feline retroviruses was indicated by most shelters (>69%), but only a few (<24%) confirmed positive test results. Clinical diagnoses should be complemented by testing. Additional information on disease occurrence should be obtained by objective monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study the occurrence of Salmonella in swine, pork meat and meat handlers along with their clonal relatedness is evaluated at abattoir level. Samples from the lymph nodes, carcass surface and meat of 100 pigs and 45 meat handlers were collected in eight abattoirs (July 2007–August 2008). Salmonella isolates were serotyped and genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). From the pigs tested, 42 produced at least one positive sample. A relatively high frequency of Salmonella occurrence was found in the ileoceacal lymph node samples (26.0%), followed by carcass (16.0%) and meat samples (14.0%). However, ileoceacal lymph nodes that test positive for Salmonella are not found to be a predictor of positive test results further on in the process. Besides the slaughterhouse environment, meat handlers were identified as a possible source of subsequent contamination, with 9.3% of the sample testing positive. Diverse Salmonella enterica serotypes were detected, mainly S. Typhimurium and the monophasic variant S. 4,[5],12:i:-, but also S. Derby, S. Rissen, S. Mbandaka, S. London, S. Give, S. Enteritidis and S. Sandiego, in total corresponding to 17 PFGE types. Our results demonstrate that besides a high level of Salmonella swine contamination at pre-harvest level, slaughtering, dressing, cutting and deboning operations are contributing to the occurrence of clinically relevant clones (e.g. S. Typhimurium DT104 and S. 4,[5],12:i:-) in pork products. This study also highlights the possibility of an ongoing Salmonella community being spread by abattoir workers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Professional training for meat handlers is an European Community food law requirement in order to apply HACCP principles and achieve food safety goals. A self-administered questionnaire designed to assess “Knowledge” and “Practice” of public hygiene measures was completed by meat handlers (MH) (n = 159) in slaughterhouses in Portugal. A significant proportion of the group (72.7%) has had professional training in two different areas: Good Practice in Food Industry (12.03%) and Work Safety and Hygiene (22.8%); 37.9% of the respondents have had training in both areas. However 24.5% of the subjects have never had training. Meat handlers with professional training in Good Practice in Food Industry (GPFI) and in both areas (BT) have had the highest proportions of correct answers in Knowledge (66.92 ± 16.36 and 67.26 ± 21.05, respectively) and Practice questions (70.53 ± 17.47 and 68.67 ± 22.58, respectively). The results of this study point to the need to improve training, particularly in Good Practice in Food Industry, thus enabling meat handlers to achieve more correct answers in Knowledge and Practice. The development of evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of professional training is crucial to protect Public Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in animal shelters in Portugal, namely, if there were differences between Municipal and Association shelters. A questionnaire was sent to both types of animal shelters. Responses were obtained from all areas of Portugal, and significant differences were reported on the numbers of animals and volunteers, funding and feed supply. Animal welfare aspects, such as abandonment, adoption, exercise and animal interaction, were not significantly different. Municipal shelters seem to be more vulnerable to operational and instruction constraints, whereas Associations were more dependent on volunteer work, funding and, consequently, feed supply. When facing an unpredicted health and social event such as the pandemic, organizations should rely on previously defined preparedness and contingency plans. The COVID-19 pandemic has an indirect impact on the health and welfare of animals. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on Municipal and Association animal shelters. A questionnaire was sent to 97 Municipal shelters and 65 Associations. Questions focused on public funding, management and animal welfare during COVID-19 restrictions. The response rate was 43.3% (42/97) for Municipal shelters and 38.5% (25/65) for Associations. Municipal shelters (67%) received over 80% of public funding, whereas 68% of the Associations received less than 50%. During the COVID-19 restrictions, financial difficulties were observed by 52% of Associations and 5% of Municipal shelters, and a lack of volunteers was observed by 56% of Associations and 17% of Municipal shelters. Operational difficulties were indicated by 43% of Associations and 12% of Municipal shelters, and a lack of instructions was observed by 31% of Municipal shelters and 4% of Associations. No significant differences were obtained on abandonment, adoption, clinical support, exercise and interaction. Decreased feed supply was reported by 40% of Associations and 5% of Municipal shelters. During the COVID-19 restrictions, Municipal shelters were more affected by the lack of instructions, and Associations were more affected by external factors such as a decrease in feed supply, volunteers and funding. Preparedness and contingency plans seem essential to face unpredicted crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• All finishing and the majority of weaner batches were considered tail-docked. • Tail biting lesions and total carcass condemnations were higher in weaners. • Association between tail-docking/biting and carcass condemnation not found. Tail-docking is not accepted by European Union legislation as a routine measure to prevent tail biting in pigs. As part of systematic monitoring of animal welfare there is an increasing interest in recording tail damage in pigs at slaughter to identify problem farms. Tail biting lesions have been associated to causes of total condemnation in postmortem meat inspection. The goals of this study were to assess tail-docking and tail biting in slaughter pigs and to evaluate the association of tail lesions with meat inspection findings. The study was carried out at four pig slaughterhouses in the north of Portugal. Data was collected at the batch level during checks on food chain information, and at ante- and postmortem meat inspection. A total of 196 batches were screened. These batches covered 10,146 pigs: 4090 weaners (132 batches from 62 farms) and 6056 finishing pigs (64 batches from 43 farms). Of all the 196 batches, 88% were classified as tail-docked, corresponding to 100% of batches of finishing pigs and 83% of weaners. Tail lesions were scored according to a 3-level scale. During postmortem inspection, 84% pig carcasses (8566 out of 10,146) presented absence of tail lesions. Mild to moderate tail lesions (13%) were more frequent than severe ones (3%). Tail lesions, both mild and severe, were more prevalent (P >0.001) in weaners (13.1%, 3.5%) than in finishing pigs (12.7%, 2.1%). A total of 169 (1.7%) carcasses were condemned during postmortem inspection with the prevalence being higher in weaners (3.3%) than in finishing pigs (0.6%). The most frequent causes were poor body condition (31.4%), arthritis/polyarthritis (28.4%), and peritonitis (20.1%). No association between severity of tail lesions and postmortem condemnations was observed at the batch level, however a tendency for a higher proportion of postmortem condemnations in docked batches was found among weaners (P = 0.013). Further research with increased sample size and the analysis performed at the animal level is needed in order to confirm the observed tendencies. Recording information on tail lesions at the slaughterhouse is useful to gain information about general herd health, to support risk-based meat inspection and to assist farmers in welfare management plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food chain information (FCI) is a mandatory component of meat inspection in the European Union. In Portugal there has been no assessment of FCI regarding risk-based meat inspection. The goal of the present study was to assess the quality and the usefulness of data provided by farmers. A total of 1,694 reports (989 for bovine animals, 575 for swine, and 130 for small ruminants) submitted to nine red meat slaughterhouses between September 2015 and January 2017 were analyzed. These reports covered a total of 79,889 animals. Overall, information was provided for the majority of the general identification items. To assess the quality of the information on health status, medication, disease occurrence, diagnostic tests, and results of previous ante- and postmortem exams, responses were classified as plausible, "nothing to declare," invalid, and nonresponse. Plausible information was provided by farmers on health status, medication, tests, and diseases on 82.7, 24.6, 5.4, and 0.1% of the FCI forms, respectively. More than 70% of the responses in all categories except health status were "nothing to declare." In pigs, when comparing ante- and postmortem inspection results with the corresponding FCI, no relevant contribution of the FCI was observed. Inaccurate or irrelevant information was provided for the majority of the detailed questions, impeding the formulation of appropriate risk-based meat inspection decisions. Farmers seem to have difficulty providing specific information. Better forms and better training are needed. Information on the prevalence of biological hazards relevant to public health currently is not available. Our results support the need to improve the systems used to obtain and integrate relevant information from the farm to the slaughterhouse.