Influence of transportation stress and animal temperament on fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • To test the influence of transportation stress and temperament on shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7, cattle (n=150) were classified at various stages of production as Excitable, Intermediate or Calm based on a variety of disposition scores. Presence of E. coli O157:H7 was determined by rectal swabs from live animals and from colons collected postmortem. Percentage of cattle shedding E. coli O157:H7 at arrival at the feedlot was approximately equal among temperament groups. Before shipment to the processing facility, a higher (P=0.03) proportion of cattle from the Calm group shed E. coli O157:H7 compared to the other temperament groups. When pooled across all sampling periods, cattle from the Calm group had a greater percentage test positive for E. coli O157:H7. Neither the acute stressor of transportation nor a more excitable temperament led to increased shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle.

published proceedings

  • Meat Sci

altmetric score

  • 6

author list (cited authors)

  • Schuehle Pfeiffer, C. E., King, D. A., Lucia, L. M., Cabrera-Diaz, E., Acuff, G. R., Randel, R. D., ... Savell, J. W.

citation count

  • 11

complete list of authors

  • Schuehle Pfeiffer, CE||King, DA||Lucia, LM||Cabrera-Diaz, E||Acuff, GR||Randel, RD||Welsh, TH||Oliphint, RA||Curley, KO||Vann, RC||Savell, JW

publication date

  • January 2009