Production Food Safety and Security

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Promote a safe and secure food supply through cost effective production practices that a) reduce the spread of on-farm foodborne pathogens and b) enhance animal health and natural immunity. <P>

APPROACH: Together, the projects represent a comprehensive effort to address each area of food safety and security. Projects focus on 1) the biological, physical, and chemical factors that affect food safety and security; 2) prevention, diagnostic, and intervention strategies to prevent, detect, and control foodborne pathogens; 3) management issues that impact food security and the impact of environmental factors on food safety. The projects also design or apply new technologies such as thermography, systems to enhance natural and acquired immunity, and rapid diagnostic systems. The projects include both bench (basic laboratory) and field research. The basic research under the plan considers factors that both suppress and enhance the immune system of food animals The projects described here also are comprehensive in that they address both digestive and respiratory diseases, the most prevalent and costly diseases at food animal production farms. Participation in this action plan is beneficial for those interested in such disciplines as public health, food safety, food security, infectious diseases, particularly zoonotic diseases (bacterial, parasitic, mycotic, viral), prions, risk assessment, epidemiology, animal production, herd health, animal care and well-being, interaction between the environmental and animal production systems, nutritional health, antimicrobial resistance, transgenics, genetically modified organisms, diagnostic systems, control and intervention, statistics, database management, and technology transfer.
<P>
PROGRESS: 2002/01 TO 2008/12 <BR>
OUTPUTS: To evaluate the accuracy of accelerometers for measuring behavior changes in calves and to determine differences in beef calf behavior from before or after castration, calves had 2-dimensional accelerometers placed on them to measure posture classification and specific activity with a reasonable level of misclassification. Castrated calves stood almost twice as much (82 percent) compared to pre surgical readings (43 percent), suggesting the usefulness of accelerometers to measure changes in individual calves. To evaluate substance P plasma concentrations in calves after castration or simulated castration (C/SC), 10 male Angus crossbred calves were used to measure vocalization, attitude scores, substance P (sP) and cortisol concentrations at the time of C/SC. Cortisol concentrations were similar between the 2 groups. However, sP was greater than 20 percent higher in the treated calves. C calves had a higher vocalization score than did SC calves. A significant higher quantity of sP, correlating with higher vocalization scores, suggested an association with nociception. These results may affect animal well-being in livestock production systems. Poorly soluble, persisting organic ultrafine particles (nanoparticles NP) from cattle feedlots increased release of interleukin 8 (maintains acute lung disease) at low concentrations and of IL 6 (predicts initiation of acute lung disease) at higher concentrations from cultured lung epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Metal oxide nanoparticles (MMONP) did not increase the release of acute lung disease indicators from the same cultures. Substances that blocked the release of endotoxin inhibited less than half of the releases. In other laboratories, both types of particles can pass through type I lung epithelium and with acute inflammatory lung cytokines enter the blood and affect the hearts of aging animals and people down stream. We are concerned with the potential adverse effects of xenobiotic residues in cows' milk to the human consumer, even though drugs that are intentionally administered to lactating dairy cattle are rigorously regulated to prevent harmful residues. Accurate estimates of the rate and extent of excretion of these compounds into milk are important to assess the risk of human exposure through cows' milk. We measured carrier mediated transport processes in cultured monolayers of an immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line (BME-UV ) using a flow-through diffusion cell system, selective substrates and inhibitors of organic cation transporters (OCT ) and organic anion transporters (OAT ). The basal to apical (BL-to-Ap ) flux of tetraethylammonium (TEA ) and estrone sulfate (ES ) significantly exceeded their flux in the opposite direction. The addition of selective inhibitors to the donor compartment significantly decreased the BL-to-Ap flux of either selective substrate. Both OCT and OAT are functionally expressed by BME-UV cells. Both the professional veterinary curriculum and the Master of Public Health (MPH) Curriculum at Kansas State University (KSU) have shown us ways that we can remedy the immediate and impending shortages of veterinarians in population health and public practice. <BR>PARTICIPANTS: Coetzee JF; Gehring R; Pickrell JA (Action Team); Appley M; Freeman LC; Kukanich B; Freeman L (Collaborators); Dhakal K; Tawde S; Al-Bataineh M (Graduate students) <BR>TARGET AUDIENCES: Toxicologists, Veterinarians, Pharmacologists and allied agricultural and health science personnel. <BR><BR>

IMPACT: 2002/01 TO 2008/12<BR>
To see how well accelerometers measured calf behavior changes and noted differences in that behavior before or after castration, 15 calves had 2-dimensional accelerometers placed on them. Posture classification appeared accurate, and specific activity had less than 25 percent misclassification. Castrated calves stood almost twice as much as before their operations. To evaluate substance P plasma concentrations in calves after castration or simulated castration (C/SC), 10 calves had vocalization, attitude scores, substance P (sP) and cortisol values were observed and/or measured at the time of Castration (C) or Simulation (SC). Cortisol concentrations were not different between groups. However, calf vocalizations and substance P were higher in castrated calves. The higher quantities of sP, correlated with higher vocalization scores, suggested that we can measure an association with nociception, more sensitive than that cortisol, an indicator of stress could detect. These results may affect assessment of animal well-being in livestock production systems. Poorly soluble, persisting organic ultrafine particles (nanoparticles NP) from cattle feedlot aerosols increased the release of indicators of acute lung disease from cultured lung epithelial cells. Manufactured metal oxide nanoparticles (MMONP) did not increase the release of the same cytokine lung disease indicators. About half of the cytokines were not inhibited by materials that blocked endotoxin release. In other laboratories, both types of particles can pass through type I lung epithelium and with acute inflammatory lung cytokines enter the blood and affect the hearts of aging animals or people down stream. Because there is ongoing concern about foreign chemical residues in cows' milk from a wide variety of potential sources, even though drugs given to lactating dairy cattle are rigorously controlled, accurate estimates of the rate and extent of excretion of these compounds into milk are needed to assess the risk of human exposure through cows milk. In the present study, the expression of carrier mediated transport processes in cultured monolayers of an immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line (BME-UV ) was determined using a flow-through diffusion cell system, selective substrates and inhibitors of organic cation transporters (OCT ) and organic anion transporters (OAT ). The basal to apical (BL-to-Ap) flux of tetraethylammonium (TEA ) and estrone sulfate (ES ) significantly exceeded their flux in the opposite direction. The flux was inhibited by selective inhibitors, suggesting that both OCT and OAT are functionally expressed by our cultured BME-UV cells. The professional veterinary curriculum and the Master of Public Health (MPH) Curriculum at Kansas State University (KSU) have been proposed as ways that we can reduce the immediate and impending shortages of population health and public practice veterinarians.