<i>Salmonella</i> in Wild Boar Meat: Prevalence and Risk Assessment in Central Italy (Umbria and Marche Region)
Caterina Altissimi,
Sara Primavilla,
Rossana Roila,
Stefano Gavaudan,
Benedetto Morandi,
Stefania Di Lullo,
Marta Coppini,
Chiara Baldinelli,
Dongjie Cai,
Raffaella Branciari,
Andrea Valiani,
Peter Paulsen,
David Ranucci
Affiliations
Caterina Altissimi
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Sara Primavilla
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Rossana Roila
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Stefano Gavaudan
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Benedetto Morandi
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Stefania Di Lullo
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Marta Coppini
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Chiara Baldinelli
USLUmbria1—Igiene degli Alimenti di Origine Animale, Distretto Alto Chiascio, 06024 Gubbio, Italy
Dongjie Cai
College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Raffaella Branciari
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Andrea Valiani
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Peter Paulsen
Unit of Food Hygiene and Technology, Centre for Food Science and Veterinary Public Health, Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria
David Ranucci
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06121 Perugia, Italy
A survey was conducted from 2018 to 2023 to assess the presence of Salmonella in 280 hunted wild boar (carcasses after evisceration and skinning, N = 226; liver, N = 258; and fecal samples, N = 174). The overall prevalence was 2.86% (confidence interval 95%, 1.45–5.45%) with five positive samples detected in carcasses, three in the liver, and one in a fecal sample. This prevalence was in line with those found in nearby areas denoting a low number of positive samples. Positive animals were over 24 months of age and weighed, before skinning, 59.00 ± 9.11 Kg and no difference was detected in microbial loads between samples positive and negative for Salmonella (aerobic colony count of 4.59 and 4.66 log CFU/400 cm2, and Enterobacteriaceae count of 2.89 and 2.73 log CFU/400 cm2 (mean values) in positive and negative subjects, respectively). Salmonella Stanleyville was the most frequently isolated serotype. A semiquantitative risk assessment was conducted for the first time in game meat considering two products, meat cuts intended for cooking and fermented dry sausages. Only proper cooking can reduce the risk of ingestion of Salmonella to the minimum for consumers, whereas ready-to-eat dry sausages constitute risk products in terms of foodborne Salmonellosis (risk score of 64 out of 100).
