Previous studies have shown that infected pigs are the source of carcass and slaughterhouse environment
contamination by Salmonella. The present study tried to evaluate the effect of a logistic slaughter, organised
according to Salmonella seroprevalence, on Salmonella contamination on carcasses. The study was performed at
the beginning of slaughtering during three consecutive days. Low risk herds (8 batches) were slaughtered on day
I, high risk herds (6 batches) on day II, and finally, moderate risk herds (5 batches) were slaughtered on day III.
Each slaughtering day, holding pens, five points of the slaughter line, and 80 carcasses were sampled. The number
of positive carcasses on days I, II and III was 7 (8.8%), 5 (6.3%) and 19 (24.4%) respectively. The results
evidenced no clear effect of the logistic slaughter on carcass contamination, with a three times higher risk of finding
a positive carcass when moderate Salmonella risk batches were slaughtered. Carcass contamination in low risk
herds was linked to the contamination of holding pens and the slaughter line activities. On the other
hand, Salmonella was not detected in any of the sampled carcasses in three out of six high risk Salmonella
batches, showing that proper slaughtering practices can prevent carcass contamination. The experience reported
here, demonstrates that apart from an accurate batch separation according to their seroprevalence levels, strict
measures for cleaning and disinfection in the lairage and the slaughterhouse facilities are needed when logistic
slaughter is performed