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Official veterinarians (OVs) are a vital part of the food safety assurance system, as they per- form the official controls for the national veterinary competent authorities (CAs). The way official controls for food products are carried out in Europe has been recently amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/625. In this new context, the OVs play a key role as risk managers at pre-harvest and harvest levels of the meat production chain and need proper training. Un- der the framework of COST Action RIBMINS, this study utilised an online questionnaire to characterize the profile of European OVs in terms of demographics, qualifications, work ex- perience, employment situation, continuing education, training opportunities and needs. The questionnaire was completed by 1, 778 OVs of 31 nationalities working in 30 European countries. On average they were 48.7 years old (min. 23 – max. 77), 53.9% were male, 45.5% were female and 0.6% preferred not to say. On average, the degree in Veterinary Medicine was obtained 22.5 years ago. The highest academic degree is DVM for 74.8% of the respondents, while 15.6% completed an MSc and 9.6% a PhD ; 35.9% hold a national specialisation diploma and 4.4% a European one. Previous professional experience and spe- cific training were required to enter the career for 32.4% and 51.2%, respectively. For 61.8% of the respondents, the entity responsible for the training was the national veterinary CA, and 50.2% had to pass an exam. On average, the number of years of experience was 15.2 (min. 0 - max. 48) and 65.3% work full-time. Most frequently, OVs work in pig (47.4%) or cattle abattoirs (44.0%), in a team with one or more OVs (38.5%) or alone (31.3%). The most frequent employer was the regional (37.5%) or the national veterinary CA (35.0%) ; 68.9% had a long-term/permanent contract. For 69.5% of OVs, the frequency of training opportu- nities is regular, and the last training activity was less than one year ago for 68.9% ; 60.0% prefer lectures face-to-face and on-site practical sessions. The most requested topics for future training are the new legislation on official controls, zoonotic and emerging diseases and risk-based meat inspection (64.4%, 62.0% and 61.6%, respectively), despite these topics having already been approached. The data obtained enable the characterisation of this pro- fessional group and help to identify training interests and develop effective future training tools.

Veterinarians are experts in animal health and welfare and public health, playing an essential role in controlling and defending the safety and quality of food of animal origin. Official veterinarians (OVs) are a vital part of food safety assurance as they perform the official controls for the national authorities. The way official controls will be carried out in Europe in the future is currently under revision. The ongoing implementation of modernised meat safety assurance systems, from traditional inspection to risk-based meat safety assurance, requires OVs to adapt their control processes. They need to act as risk managers who consider harmonised epidemiological indicators and food chain information. However, to date, the demography, training opportunities and training needs of OVs remain to be assessed and likely vary widely across Europe. An online anonymous questionnaire was developed, tested in a pilot study and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Porto, Portugal. The objective of this survey tool, encompassing eight groups of questions, was to characterise OVs in terms of demography and employment, and to identify continuous education and training needs. To reach as many OVs working in Europe as possible, the questionnaire was translated into 17 different languages and was available to recipients from 1st December 2021 to 31st March 2022. This survey tool was disseminated through RIBMINS national contact points, the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, the European College of Veterinary Public Health as well as professional and personal networks in the countries participating in the RIBMINS project. Over 1, 700 OVs from 30 countries have completed the questionnaire. The data obtained will enable the characterisation of this professional group and help to identify training needs and develop effective future training tools.

In this study, we assessed the presence of IS26 elements in 60 multidrug resistant (R-type ASSuT phenotype) Salmonella enterica isolates collected in slaughtered swine samples in Portugal, investigating its role in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance among different reservoirs. PCR-mapping allowed us to describe a new genetic organization, in the emergent Salmonella Rissen, including a peptidase C14 caspase catalytic subunit P20 gene between two IS26 elements. Furthermore, we detected the same genetic structures in Salmonella isolates from different serotypes in samples from slaughtered swine, carcasses/meat, and meat handlers, namely a resistance region harboring blaTEM-1 genes also flanked by 2 copies of IS26 elements in Salmonella Typhimurium (n=17) and Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- variants (n=2). This study highlights that IS26 mobile genetic elements might play an important role in the mobilization of antibiotic resistance genes, which can constitutes a problem in terms of veterinary medicine and public health in general. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion