Sources of Salmonella lymph node infection in veal calves

What is it about?

Salmonella infection in lymph nodes can contaminate ground beef products; however, the source and timing of these infections are unclear. We followed special-fed veal calves through the entire harvest process to determine if environmental exposures prior to harvest (i.e., livestock trailers and harvest facility holding pens) resulted in rapid lymph node infection.

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Why is it important?

We found that exposure to livestock trailers and harvest facility holding pens can result in Salmonella lymph node infection in special-fed veal calves. Future work should evaluate the extent of preharvest environmental transmission to determine if targeted intervention in these areas can significantly reduce the prevalence of Salmonella lymph node infections in calves.