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African swine fever (ASF) was diagnosed for the first time in Romania in a backyard holding in Satu‐Mare County in July 2017. Since then, more than 3800 outbreaks occurred in the entire country. Disease control strategies in the backyard sector rely almost exclusively on reactive measures implemented upon appearance of clinical signs and laboratory confirmation of ASF. In our descriptive study, infection course and outbreak investigation data of 56 affected backyard holdings in Satu‐Mare County has been investigated. Early disease detection based on clinical signs appeared to be efficient. In the majority of outbreaks, ASF was detected within the first 2 weeks after the estimated virus introduction. A clinical phase of 2–8 days was observed before pigs either succumbed to the disease or control measures were implemented on affected farms. A moderate on‐farm transmissibility of ASF virus between pigs was observed. Four clusters of outbreaks were identified indicating virus perpetuation and transmission from farm to farm. To suspend infection chains, rapid intervention by isolating affected farms combined with effective biosecurity measures is required. However, due to the backyard peculiarities, quick and effective implementation of control measures has shown to be rather difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Foodborne toxoplasmosis in humans can be due to the exposure to tissue cysts of Toxoplasma gondii through the consumption of meat, including pork, of infected animals. Traditional Romanian food habits include pork as the preferred meat, while backyard pig rearing remains a common practice in many rural areas of Romania. The aims of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of T. gondii infection in naturally infected backyard pigs slaughtered for familial consumption and to genetically characterize the T. gondii strains obtained. Methods: Paired blood and heart samples were collected from 94 backyard pigs, home slaughtered for private consumption. Serum samples were analyzed using the immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) for anti-T. gondii antibody detection. Heart samples were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the 529-bp repeat region (REP529) for T. gondii detection. In addition, heart samples from IFAT positive animals were bioassayed in mice. The T. gondii isolates were genotyped by the analysis of 15 microsatellite markers. Results: The results showed that almost half of the pigs investigated were T. gondii seropositive (46.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 36.4–57.4%) and in more than a quarter of the pigs (26.6%, 95% CI: 18.0–36.7%), the parasite was detected by PCR. Three (3/44) T. gondii strains were isolated from hearts of seropositive pigs and they all belonged to genotype II. Conclusions: The present study showed the presence of T. gondii infection in backyard pigs in Romania, which suggests that consumption of pork from animals reared and slaughtered at home may pose a potential threat to human health and should be given attention. In addition, to our knowledge, this is the first study to provide data concerning T. gondii strains circulating in pigs from Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation on the occurrence of Salmonella spp. in eggs from chickens raised in backyards in Portugal and Romania. A lack of compliance with safety practices by chicken owners, was demonstrated, especially in Portugal, as 96% of the eggs were visibly dirty and 92.5% were stored at room temperature. In Romania the 202 analysed eggs were Salmonella free, whereas in Portugal six of the 200 eggs sampled were positive for Salmonella spp. (3%). A positive egg for Salmonella spp. was found in 10.7% of the 56 backyard flocks sampled in Portugal. One egg exhibited contamination both in the shell-membrane mixture and in its content, while in the remaining eggs, the pathogen was found either in the shell-membrane (n = 2) or in the yolk and white mixture (n = 3). The serotypes S. Typhimurium (with identical PFGE patterns) and S. Enteritidis were isolated from five eggs and one egg, respectively. Whilst S. Enteritidis was sensitive to the 14 antibiotics tested, S. Typhimurium isolates presented divergent antimicrobial resistant phenotypes and three were classified as multi-drug resistant. • In Portugal six of the 200 eggs were positive for Salmonella spp. (3%). • 10% of backyards sampled with an egg positive for Salmonella spp. • Contamination in shell (n = 2), in eggs content (n = 3), or both (n = 1). • One isolate identified as S. Enteritidis and 6 as S. Typhimurium. • Three S. Typhimurium isolates were classified as multi-drug resistant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]