Andreas Kiermeier

The lessons learned from reviewing national risk assessments to modernise the Australian Standard for the post-mortem inspection and disposition judgement of beef, sheep, goat, and pig carcases are discussed. The initial risk profiles identified priorities for quantitative assessments. Broadly, the main difficulty encountered was the paucity of quantified performance for the current inspection. Resolving this involved acquiring gross abnormality data representing regional production/proportional abattoir volumes, the range of gross abnormalities appearing nationally, proportional occurrence at carcase sites, and seasonality to enable the comparison of procedures. The methodologies followed the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s risk assessment guidelines and are fully documented in the associated publications. The evidence and discussion are provided for the associated challenges experienced, including preventing contamination, the use of food chain information to support amendment, inspection as a part of industry Quality Assurance programmes, and opportunities to improve inspector training. The criteria considered by the Competent Authority for the determination of the equivalence of alternative post-mortem inspection techniques included comparisons of public health risk, non-detection rates for gross abnormalities, and microbial contamination resulting from inspection activities, as appropriate. Most of the gross abnormalities detected arose from animal health and welfare conditions affecting wholesomeness and did not present as food safety hazards. The non-detection rates between the current and alternative inspection (observation) were negligible. A quantitative risk assessment for Cysticercus bovis was conducted. Carcases with multiple gross abnormalities predominantly reflected historic infections (prior septicaemia), where trimming achieved wholesomeness unless they were cachexic.

Lessons learned and risk-based outcomes from modernising the Australian Standard for post-mortem inspection and disposition judgement of beef, sheep, goat and pig carcases are described. Initial Risk Profiles identified priorities for quantitative assessments. The main difficulty encountered was the paucity of quantified performance of current inspection. Resolving this involved acquiring gross abnormality data representing regional production/proportional abattoir volumes, the range of gross abnormalities appearing nationally, proportional occurrence at carcase sites, and seasonality to enable comparisons. Evidence and discussion are provided for associated challenges experienced including preventing contamination, use of food chain information to support amendment, inspection as a part of industry Quality Assurance and opportunities to improve inspector training. Criteria considered by the Competent Authority for determination of equivalence of alternative post-mortem inspection techniques included comparisons of public health risk, non-detection rates for gross abnormalities, and microbial contamination resulting from inspection activities, as appropriate. Most gross abnormalities detected arose from animal health and welfare conditions affecting wholesomeness and did not present as food safety hazards. Non-detection rates between current and alternative inspection (observation) were negligible. A Quantitative Risk Assessment for Cysticercus bovis was conducted. Carcases with multiple gross abnormalities predominantly reflected historic infections (prior septicaemia) where trimming achieved wholesomeness unless cachexic.

Better knowledge regarding the Listeria monocytogenes dose–response (DR) model is needed to refine the assessment of the risk of foodborne listeriosis. In 2018, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) derived a lognormal Poisson DR model for 14 different age–sex sub-groups, marginally to strain virulence. In the present study, new sets of parameters are developed by integrating the EFSA model for these sub-groups together with three classes of strain virulence characteristics (“less virulent”, “virulent”, and “more virulent”). Considering classes of virulence leads to estimated relative risks (RRs) of listeriosis following the ingestion of 1000 bacteria of “less virulent” vs. “more virulent” strains ranging from 21.6 to 24.1, depending on the sub-group. These relatively low RRs when compared with RRs linked to comorbidities described in the literature suggest that the influence of comorbidity on the occurrence of invasive listeriosis for a given exposure is much more important than the influence of the virulence of the strains. The updated model parameters allow better prediction of the risk of invasive listeriosis across a population of interest, provided the necessary data on population demographics and the proportional contribution of strain virulence classes in food products of interest are available. An R package is made available to facilitate the use of these dose–response models.

A one-year survey was undertaken of the microbiological quality of carcases and the derived primal cuts, manufacturing meat and offals at twelve Australian export establishments (six beef, three sheep/lamb and three pork). A total of 27,157 microbiological results for aerobic plate count (APC) and generic Escherichia coli were gathered, 15,155 from beef, 8405 from sheep and 3597 from pig establishments. The mean log₁₀ APCs on beef, sheep and pig carcases were 0.84, 1.60 and 1.30 log₁₀ cfu/cm², respectively. For primals, the mean log₁₀ APC was higher for beef but was similar for sheep and pork primals, with ‘outside’ cuts having higher counts. For manufacturing meat, the concentration was 2–3 log₁₀ cfu/g, irrespective of species. The prevalence (%) of generic E. coli from beef, sheep and pork was 2.3, 28.4 and 5.4 on carcases; 7.0, 20.6 and 3.2 on primals; and 5.8, 33.6 and 6.1 on manufacturing meat, respectively. The mean log₁₀ APCs of beef, sheep and pork offal were 3.23, 3.18 and 3.37 log₁₀ cfu/g, with tripes and tongues having APCs 1–2 log₁₀ units higher than organ offals. The results reflect improvements in total bacterial loadings compared with previous national baseline surveys.

Tilapia culture is an important source of income and nutrition to many rural families. Since 2000, the production of tilapia increased and reached domestic and global markets. Major farmed species is Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), in earthen ponds and cage cultures. Intensification contributed to global tilapia disease outbreaks, with bacterial infections causing mortalities and morbidities, threatening sustainable production. At tilapia farms, high nutrient concentrations, water temperature and fish densities enhance bacterial growth including virulent bacterial clones and potential zoonotic bacteria. Global warming favours this. This review respectively provides a comprehensive overview of the most common and emerging bacterial pathogens, diseases, clinical presentations and diagnostics of tilapia, including bacteria and diseases with zoonotic potential. First, common bacterial disease outbreaks, including streptococcosis, motileAeromonassepticaemia, francisellosis, columnaris disease and vibriosis are described. Then, information on emerging bacterial infections of concern for tilapia, like edwardsiellosis throughEdwardsiella ictaluriandE.tarda, as well asAeromonas schubertiiis provided. Reports of infectious bacterial tilapia disease outbreaks from other bacteria, includingLactococcus garvieae,Aerococcus viridans,Pseudomonasspp.,Mycobacterium marinumandChlamydiaspp., and others are reviewed. Furthermore, bacteria with zoonotic potential, likeStreptococcus agalactiaeST283,S.iniae,Aeromonassp.,E.tarda,Vibrio vulnificuspathovar (pv)piscisandM.marinumare included in the review, to provide the most current overview of the disease risks affecting production and post‐harvest stages. Additionally, the status and risks of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from tilapia and other cultured fish through imprudent use of antibiotics, and its future at a global level are provided.

Pectenotoxins (PTXs) are produced by Dinophysis spp., along with okadaic acid, dinophysistoxin 1, and dinophysistoxin 2. The okadaic acid group toxins cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), so are therefore regulated. New Zealand currently includes pectenotoxins within the DSP regulations. To determine the impact of this decision, shellfish biotoxin data collected between 2009 and 2019 were examined. They showed that 85 samples exceeded the DSP regulatory limit (0.45%) and that excluding pectenotoxins would have reduced this by 10% to 76 samples. The incidence (1.3%) and maximum concentrations of pectenotoxins (0.079 mg/kg) were also found to be low, well below the current European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) safe limit of 0.12 mg/kg. Inclusion within the DSP regulations is scientifically flawed, as pectenotoxins and okadaic acid have a different mechanism of action, meaning that their toxicities are not additive, which is the fundamental principle of grouping toxins. Furthermore, evaluation of the available toxicity data suggests that pectenotoxins have very low oral toxicity, with recent studies showing no oral toxicity in mice dosed with the PTX analogue PTX2 at 5000 µg/kg. No known human illnesses have been reported due to exposure to pectenotoxins in shellfish, a fact which combined with the toxicity data indicates that they pose negligible risk to humans. Regulatory policies should be commensurate with the level of risk, thus deregulation of PTXs ought to be considered, a stance already adopted by some countries.

The cephalic index (CI) is used in the evaluation of individuals with craniosynostosis. There is little agreement as to the normal range and stability of the CI during the fetal period, partly due to limited literature. We sought to determine the range, distribution and stability of the fetal CI in the second half of pregnancy. We also aimed to identify any relationship to delivery complications such as obstructed labor and malpresentation. The fetal head circumference, biparietal diameter (BPD) and occipitofrontal diameter (OFD) measurements were obtained from standard ultrasound images. Each of 4304 fetuses had measurements taken at morphology scan performed between 17 and 22 weeks' gestation, and at growth scanning at 28 to 33 weeks' gestation. The cephalic index was calculated using the formula: CI = BPD/OFD × 100. The distribution of the CI at both scans is very close to a normal distribution. The mean CI at 17 to 22 weeks was 75.9 (SD, 3.7); the mean CI at 28 to 33 weeks was 77.8 (SD, 3.5). The mean change in CI was 1.9 (SD, 4.28), which is not statistically significantly different from zero (t = 0.656, P = 0.512, 95% confidence interval). No relationship was found between the CI in normal fetuses and delivery complications. There is a wide variation in the change in CI in the third trimester. A value below the normal range in the third trimester or a progressive reduction in CI during the latter half of pregnancy should provoke detailed scanning of the fetal cranial sutures to check for craniosynostosis.

Background: This retrospective, population‐based cohort study aims to determine if differences in the regional distribution of procedures or variation in regional mortality contributes to the variable pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) mortality between Australian states and territories.Methods: De‐identified procedural data from public hospitals between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2015 from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare were analysed. The regional distribution of procedures and variation in perioperative mortality rate (POMR) were investigated in New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and Queensland (QLD) using logistic regression analysis.Results: NSW performed the highest proportion of city‐based procedures (93.8%) while QLD performed the highest proportion of regional procedures (15.3%). QLD demonstrated the lowest city mortality (1.9%) and lowest POMR overall (2.0%). City, regional and state‐wide mortality was highest in NSW (5.0%, 8.4% and 5.3%). No significant difference in POMR was demonstrated between regional and city hospitals in each of the states (P = 0.46) or across all states (P = 0.50).Conclusion: This study demonstrates comparable regional PD distribution across Australia. The difference in PD POMR between city and regional areas was not found to be statistically significant. NSW exhibited the highest city, regional and overall PD POMR, potentially warranting further investigation.

Alternative postmortem inspection procedures for the detection of gross abnormalities due to Caseous Lymphadenitis (CLA) of sheep and goats were compared quantitatively against the current Australian Standard (AS4696). Studies on sheep and goats in Australia during 2016 addressed data gaps regarding current prevalence, combinations of multiple lesions within affected carcases and sensitivity of inspection procedures enabling a comparison of alternative with current procedures. Using these contemporary inspection data from 54 915 sheep and 48 577 goats a desktop study estimated the effect of implementing alternative procedures of reduced palpation from eleven carcase sites to the four sites most commonly affected. Under current procedures it was estimated that 86 sheep and 34 goat carcases with CLA lesions are missed per 10,000 carcases. Under alternative procedures it is estimated that an additional 48.4 sheep and 10.5 goat carcases with CLA lesions would be missed per 10 000 carcases. Of these, 38.2 sheep and 5.6 goat per 10 000 carcases would contain CLA only in routinely discarded, non‐edible tissue sites. Hence, only an additional 10.2 sheep and 4.9 goat carcases per 10 000 inspected, with CLA in edible tissue sites are estimated to be missed. These alternative procedures have now been officially implemented in the Australian domestic standard.