Comparison of Meat Juice Serology and Bacteriology for Surveillance of in the Brazilian Pork Production Chain.

This study assessed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based assay to detect in swine as a potential tool to predict the presence of in swine carcasses. The following samples were collected from 10 swine batches: blood ( = 100); environment (barn floor,  = 10, and lairage floor,  = 10); meat juice ( = 100, obtained after defrosting of diaphragm); tonsils ( = 100); mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) ( = 100); and carcasses after bleeding ( = 100), after singeing ( = 100), after evisceration ( = 100), and after final rinsing ( = 100). Blood and meat juice were subjected to ELISA to detect antibodies against , and other samples were subjected to detection by ISO 6579. was detected in 3 samples from barn floors, 7 lairage floors, 45 tonsils, 43 MLNs and in 3 carcasses. Based on ELISA, positive samples were: 86 and 46 blood serum (20% and 40% cut-offs) and 68 and 46 meat juice (20% and 40% cut-offs). Optical density readings from blood serum and meat juice presented a high and significant correlation ( = 0.93,  < 0.001), and a substantial agreement for detection ( = 0.69, ELISA 40% cut-off). The agreement between ELISA and microbiological analysis for detection in pig carcasses were absent or poor, with the exception of results obtained by ELISA 40% cut-off from blood serum and meat juice with MLNs ( = 0.49 and 0.50, respectively) and tonsils ( = 0.29 and 0.30, respectively). Based on the obtained results, meat juice can be considered an alternative to blood serum as a matrix for ELISA for preliminary detection of , allowing the identification of potential sources of contamination during slaughtering.