Oral Presentation 20th Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases 2017

The prevalence and diversity of Streptococcus suis in the production and supply chain of pork in China and the UK   (#97)

Geng Zou 1 , Hui Jin 1 , Ran Xiao 1 , Yuting Cheng 1 , Lu Li 1 , Jinhong Wang 2 , Olusegun Oshota 2 , Lucy Weinert 2 , Juan Hernandez 2 , A.W. (Dan) Tucker 2 , Rui Zhou 1
  1. Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
  2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Streptococcus suis (S. suis), a global zoonosis of pigs, shows regional differences in prevalence of human associated disease for Asian and non-Asian countries. The isolation rate and diversity of S. suis on tonsils of healthy slaughter pigs in China and the UK were studied for effects of geography, temperature, pig age and farm type. The contamination of S. suis in Chinese markets were evaluated with the MPN-PCR method. S. suis isolates underwent analysis of molecular serotype, multilocus sequence type, minimum core genome grouping, and virulence-associated genotyping. Although we found no significant difference in positive isolation rates between Chinese and UK farms, the prevalences of serotypes associated with human disease were significantly greater in the Chinese collection (p = 0.002). A significant effect of temperature was found on the positive isolation rate and prevalence of human disease associated serotypes in both countries (China, p = 0.011; UK, p = 0.05). In the MPN results, the contamination rate of the samples from small abattoirs was up to 90%, higher than that from wet- and super-markets (84% vs. 70%). The similar effect of temperature was found on the MPN value of S. suis in the pork samples. This study highlighted the widespread existence of S. suis in PSCP of China and UK. The significant effect of temperature on S. suis in living pigs and pig products sheds new light on geographic variations in human S. suis associated disease.