ABSTRACT Broiler carcasses presenting cachexia, as determined by the federal inspection agency, were submitted to microbiological, physicochemical, and histological analyses. Over a 2-month period, 278 carcasses from straight-run flocks of 43- to 48-d-old Cobb broilers from two different farms were condemned due to cachexia and subjected to gross examination in the final inspection sector. Out of the 278 carcasses, 131 did not present any gross signs of infection, and were submitted to microbiological analyses (n=83), physicochemical analyses (n=28), and viscera and muscle samples of 20 carcasses were evaluated by histology. The microbiological results of cachectic carcasses complied with the current legislation on the consumption of fresh poultry meat. Lower lipid and higher protein, moisture, and volatile matter contents, and higher pH (p<0.05) were determined in the cachectic than in the control carcasses from a same flock, but no ash content differences. All carcasses were negative for hydrogen sulfide. The histological analysis showed that65% of the cachectic carcasses did not have any muscle injury, 20% showed mild hyalinization and 15% moderate proliferation of fibrous connective tissue. The findings of this study indicate the importance of further technical and scientific studies on the utilization of cachectic broiler carcasses for the manufacture of edible products, rather than whole carcasses rendering, thereby preventing the resulting economic losses.

ABSTRACT There are several causes of carcass condemnation in poultry processing plants, including dorsal cranial myopathy (DCM), in which the anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle is affected. DCM etiology has not been elucidated yet, but this lesion impairs the visual quality of carcasses and causes economic losses due to downgrading and condemnation. The effects of this lesion on the systemic health of broilers are still unknown. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate muscle injury and systemic health indicators in broilers presenting or not DCM. The following parameters were evaluated: complete blood count (CBC), total protein, albumin, globulin, cholesterol, lactate, and glucose serum levels, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatine kinase (CK) serum activities, and breast muscle pH. Blood samples were collected from 800 42-day-old broilers before feed withdrawal and transportation. In the processing plant, 28 carcasses presented DCM during inspection, and 28 carcasses with no DCM were used as controls. Blood biochemical parameters were not significantly different between broilers with DCM and the controls, except for AST and CK, which activities were higher in the DCM group than in the control group, suggesting that the DCM does not affect the systemic health of the broilers.

ABSTRACT The routine use of antimicrobials in animal production for the treatment of infections, disease prevention, or as growth promoters is a predisposing factor for the development and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. In food industries, sanitizers are used for the control of microbial colonization, and their efficacy depends on contact time and on the dilution of the products used. The present study assessed the effect of 12 antimicrobials and four commercial sanitizers on 18 Salmonella spp. strains isolated from poultry processing plants. None of the evaluated antimicrobials was 100% effective against the tested Salmonella spp. strains; however, 94% of the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, 77% to amoxicillin + clavulanic acid and to ampicillin, and 72% to enrofloxacin, whereas 100% of the isolates were resistant to penicillin G, 16% to tetracycline, and 11% to sulfonamide. The tested Salmonella spp. strains were 100% inhibited by peracetic acid after five minutes of contact, 0.5% by quaternary ammonium after 15 minutes, and 85.7% by chlorhexidine after 15 minutes. The results indicate the importance of testing of efficacy of antimicrobials used in animal production and in public health to monitor their action and the development of resistance.

Salmonella is traditionally identified by conventional microbiological tests, but the enumeration of this bacterium is not used on a routine basis. Methods such as the most probable number (MPN), which utilize an array of multiple tubes, are time-consuming and expensive, whereas miniaturized most probable number (mMPN) methods, which use microplates, can be adapted for the enumeration of bacteria, saving up time and materials. The aim of the present paper is to assess two mMPN methods for the enumeration of Salmonella sp in artificially-contaminated chicken meat samples. Microplates containing 24 wells (method A) and 96 wells (method B), both with peptone water as pre-enrichment medium and modified semi-solid Rappaport-Vassiliadis (MSRV) as selective enrichment medium, were used. The meat matrix consisted of 25g of autoclaved ground chicken breast contaminated with dilutions of up to 10(6) of Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) and Escherichia coli (EC). In method A, the dilution 10-5 of Salmonella Typhimurium corresponded to >57 MPN/mL and the dilution 10-6 was equal to 30 MPN/mL. There was a correlation between the counts used for the artificial contamination of the samples and those recovered by mMPN, indicating that the method A was sensitive for the enumeration of different levels of contamination of the meat matrix. In method B, there was no correlation between the inoculated dilutions and the mMPN results.