AIMS: To determine the prevalence of four bacterial zoonotic pathogens in beef @entity291 at time of slaughter in Northern Ireland (NI), in order to assess their potential for reducing beef safety. METHODS AND RESULTS: Faeces were collected postmortem from beef @entity291 (n =220) at seven EU registered abattoirs. Standard enrichment culturing methods were employed, plus immunomagnetic enrichment in the case of @entity526 O157:H7. Campylobacter spp. were found in 52 samples (24.8%), @entity5125 in 10 (4.8%), @entity526 O157:H7 in 2 (0.9%) whilst @entity5746 spp. were isolated from six out of 200 samples (3.0%). Five salmonellas were @entity5746 Chandans and one was @entity5746 Liverpool. CONCLUSIONS: Campylobacter spp. were the most frequently isolated pathogen, despite being relatively rare in beef. Genotyping showed the campylobacters to be very diverse, indicating @entity291 encounter campylobacters from many sources. The remaining three pathogens, which are associated with meats, occurred at relatively low frequencies, especially @entity526 O157:H7. The @entity5746 serovars found rarely infect @entity1 . SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The low prevalence of @entity526 O157:H7 in NI beef @entity291 was confirmed and the reasons for this merit further study. The four pathogens should have little impact on beef quality.

Carriage of four bacterial pathogens by beef XXXX in Northern Ireland at time of slaughter.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['humans'] @entity5125 :: ('1639', 'Species') :: ['Listeria monocytogenes'] @entity5746 :: ('MESH:D012480', 'Disease') :: ['Salmonella'] @entity291 :: ('9913', 'Species') :: ['cattle'] @entity526 :: ('562', 'Species') :: ['Escherichia coli', 'E. coli']
@entity291 :: (9913,Species) :: ['cattle']
