# Trichinae Herd Certification

The Trichinae Herd Certification Program is a pre-harvest pork safety
program that will provide documentation of swine management practices
which minimize risk of exposure of swine to the zoonotic parasite
*Trichinella spiralis*. The program establishes a set of criteria that
enable producers to market swine which are not considered a risk to
human health due to exposure to this parasite. This program has been
developed as a cooperative effort among the USDA agencies (Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service \[APHIS\], Agricultural Research Service
\[ARS\], Cooperative States Research, Education and Extension Service
\[CSREES\], Food Safety and Inspection Service \[FSIS\]) the National
Pork Producers Council \[NPPC\], and the pork processing industry. The
concept of risk management for control of *Trichinella* in the domestic
swine population is endorsed by the U. S. Animal Health Association, the
National Institute for Animal Agriculture and the American Association
of Swine Practitioners. It is also recognized by the International
Commission on Trichinellosis in their Recommended Methods for Control of
*Trichinella* in swine. This Program is seen as model for future on-farm
animal agriculture food safety programs.

Even with evidence that trichinae infection is becoming very rare, if
not nearly non-existent in humans and swine, the perception of trichinae
infections from pork still exists with some consumers. The lack of a
national testing or on-farm program to address trichinae may also be an
impediment to the U.S. Pork Industry reaching its full market potential
internationally.

In response to consumer perceptions and to further the development of
U.S. pork export markets, the National Trichinae Research Project (NTRP)
was undertaken in 1994. This is an ongoing collaborative effort between
the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), government - USDA's
Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and
allied industry. The following summarizes the project progress and
program development to date.

Prevention of human trichinellosis resulting from the ingestion of pork
is variously accomplished through meat inspection, through processing of
pork products by heating, irradiating, freezing or curing, and through
consumer education with respect to meat preparation. In modern pork
production systems there is essentially no risk to pigs of acquiring
*Trichinella* infection, and the absence of the parasite from domestic
pigs raised in these systems has been established through extensive
testing. Documentation of trichinae-safe good production practices is a
viable economic alternative to individual carcass testing to assure
product safety.

A pilot trichinae herd certification study was conducted in three states
in the Midwestern U.S. (Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota) to evaluate a
process verification system for the production of trichinae-free pork.
An on-farm audit, consisting of 55 questions, was developed for use in
determining the presence of risk factors for exposure of pigs to
potential sources of *Trichinella*. The audit was administered by
trained, USDA accredited veterinary practitioners on 198 pork production
sites in the 3-state area. All pigs raised on sites where audits were
conducted were slaughtered at a single packing plant and a sample from
each carcass was tested by pooled diaphragm digestion and an
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Few production sites met all
criteria established within the audit for risk-free management
practices. Most of the deficiencies were noted in the lack of a regular
rodent control program around swine rearing buildings. However, it was
estimated that greater than 85% of these sites could meet good
production practice criteria with minor improvements in management. From
a total of 221,123 carcass samples tested from audited farms during a 6
month period, no *Trichinella* positive carcasses were detected by
diaphragm digestion or ELISA. Based on the outcome of this study, an
improved, more succinct audit was developed with objective measures of
good production practices which reduce or eliminate risk of exposure of
pigs to sources of *Trichinella*. The new version of the audit will be
used in the planned large-scale pork production chain pilots of the
certification program that will lead up to the implementation of the
voluntary program in the U.S.

The large-scale pilots of the system will take place starting this
summer with continuation through the end of 2001. These pilots will
involve a packing plant in Minnesota and a packing plant in Iowa. The
pilot production sites that supply pigs to these plants will be located
in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The pilots will follow
the flow events as has been proposed for the program (see Flow of Events
in Certification diagram). In order to test the flow of information for
this program there may be some participation needed by the state or
federal regulatory offices in the states where the plants are located
and in the states where the production sites are located.

# Pilot Timeline

June 1 -- Producer participation contacts initiated (letter outlining
objectives and procedures that will come from NPPC and the packing
plants).

June 15 -- Packers will follow up with a phone call to answer any
questions.

June 30 -- Producer and veterinarian educational packet delivered.

July 1 -- Qualified accredited veterinarian training announcement
release.

\~July 15 -- Producer orientation sessions initiated.

\~July 30 - Qualified accredited veterinarian training sessions held.

\~August 20 - Qualified accredited veterinarian training sessions held.

\~October 20 -- FSIS and plant personnel training.

\~November 1 -- Plants testing systems set up.

\~November 20 -- Trial sample collection and testing. Trial carcass
tracking in the plant. Tracking database developed.

\~February -- Pilot "certified" pigs begin coming into the plants and
full system testing begins.

## **Flow of Events in Certification**

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## Producer request   | ##                    | ## Accredited veter   |
| s program Information |                       | inarian requests qual |
|                       |                       | ification information |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | ##                    | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## Producer as        | ##                    | ## Vet                |
| sesses good managemen |                       | erinarian receives tr |
| t practices and makes |                       | aining and is awarded |
|  changes as necessary |                       |  Qualification status |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | ##                    | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | ## Producer           | ##                    |
|                       |  requests program app |                       |
|                       | lication through Qual |                       |
|                       | ified Accredited Vete |                       |
|                       | rinarian or APHIS VMO |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    |                       | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | Audit is conducted    | ##                    |
|                       | and application filed |                       |
|                       | with appropriate fee  |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    |                       | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | Program status        | ##                    |
|                       | decision made by      |                       |
|                       | APHIS Administrator   |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | ##                    |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## Program statu      | ##                    | Program status denied |
| s granted (by APHIS); |                       |                       |
|  and production site  |                       |                       |
| can market animals as |                       |                       |
|  trichinae certified  |                       |                       |
| if in Stage II or III |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | ##                    |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## Certifi            | ##                    | Producer works with   |
| ed animals (Stage II  |                       | their herd            |
| or III program status |                       | veterinarian or the   |
| ) enter marketing cha |                       | Qualified Accredited  |
| nnels with TIN number |                       | Veterinarian to       |
| ; animals are identif |                       | implement Good        |
| ied through sale and  |                       | Production Practices  |
| slaughter by identifi |                       | necessary to achieve  |
| cation or segregation |                       | program status        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
|                       | ##                    | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Packer verifies the   | ##                    | ##                    |
| TIN number when       |                       |                       |
| receiving animals for |                       |                       |
| processing; carcasses |                       |                       |
| are tracked through   |                       |                       |
| the slaughter and     |                       |                       |
| fabrication           |                       |                       |
| processes; FSIS       |                       |                       |
| monitors packer       |                       |                       |
| records of certified  |                       |                       |
| animals               |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
|                       | ##                    | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Blood or tissue       | ##                    | ##                    |
| samples are collected |                       |                       |
| from a subset of      |                       |                       |
| certified animals for |                       |                       |
| testing by digestion  |                       |                       |
| or ELISA by plant     |                       |                       |
| personnel on a        |                       |                       |
| monthly basis         |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | ##                    | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## FS                 | ##                    | ##                    |
| IS monitors results o |                       |                       |
| f testing and reports |                       |                       |
|  any positive results |                       |                       |
|  with site trace back |                       |                       |
|  information to APHIS |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
|                       | ##                    | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Loss of program       | ##                    | ##                    |
| status by any         |                       |                       |
| production site is    |                       |                       |
| immediately           |                       |                       |
| communicated to       |                       |                       |
| producers (by APHIS)  |                       |                       |
| and to the packer (by |                       |                       |
| the producer), and    |                       |                       |
| entered into the      |                       |                       |
| trichinae             |                       |                       |
| certification status  |                       |                       |
| database accessible   |                       |                       |
| via the internet      |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    |                       | ##                    |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ##                    | Periodic auditing of  | ##                    |
|                       | certified production  |                       |
|                       | sites and spot audits |                       |
|                       | assure maintenance of |                       |
|                       | good production       |                       |
|                       | practices (APHIS),    |                       |
|                       | audit integrity, and  |                       |
|                       | program consistency   |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

The proposed certification process includes the following elements: 1)
Veterinarians, trained in good production practices relative to
trichinae, work with their producers to ensure that trichinae risk
factors are minimized on their farms; 2) The on-farm audit will serve as
a method to document the absence of trichinae infection risks. Audits
will be done periodically to ensure that good production practices
relative to trichinae remain in place; 3) On a regular basis, a
statistical sample of the national trichinae certified herd will be
tested at slaughter using diaphragm digestion or ELISA to verify the
absence of infection; and 4) USDA veterinarians will conduct random
"spot audits" of certifications to ensure completeness and the integrity
of the program.

**Contacts for further information:**

Ray Gamble

USDA, ARS, Parasite Biology and Epidemiology Laboratory

Building 1040, Room 103, BARC-East

Beltsville, MD 20705

301-504-8300

Fax: 301-504-6273

<rgamble@asrr.arsusda.gov>

Dave Pyburn

National Pork Producers Council

Director, Veterinary Science

P.O. Box 10383

Des Moines, IA 50306

515-223-2757

Fax: 515-223-2646

<pyburnd@nppc.org>

Larry Miller

USDA, APHIS, VS

Unit 43

4700 River Rd.

Riverdale, MD 20737

301-734-7718

Fax: 301-734-7964

<lawrence.e.miller@aphisnotes.usda.gov>

Lowell Anderson

USDA, APHIS, VS

Federal Bldg. Rm. 891

210 Walnut St.

Des Moines, IA 50209-2105

515-284-4140

Fax: 515-284-4156

<lowell.a.anderson@usda.gov>