The association between Salmonella sp. isolated from the intestinal tract of pigs at slaughter and its presence in tonsils/mandibular lymph nodes (T/MDL) used in the sausage manufacture was assessed. In a trial mesenteric lymph nodes (LM), intestinal contents (IC) and T/MDL were collected from 90 animals. Salmonella sp. was isolated from 71 (79%) animals in at least one of the samples. T/MDL contaminated samples were correlated with Salmonella sp. isolated from LM and/or IC (P<0.001), with odds ratioLTpositive 5.6. In other trial, T/MDL of 75 animals processed separately, were associated with isolation of Salmonella sp (P< 0.0001). The serovars more prevalent were Typhimurium and Bredeney. It was concluded that Salmonella sp. presence in the intestinal tract is a risk factor for contamination of the portions of carcasses used in sausage manufacture.
swine; Salmonella sp.; mandibular lymph node; tonsils; intestinal tract
