Award details

CUKPGP: Streptococcus suis in the pig meat supply chain: from genomics to control strategies.

Reference	BB/L003902/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Alexander Tucker
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Duncan Maskell, Professor James Wood
Institution	University of Cambridge
Department	Veterinary Medicine
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	157,032
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	21/06/2013
End date	20/11/2015
Duration	29 months

Abstract

Streptococcus suis (SS) is an important zoonotic pathogen of pigs with global relevance to pig productivity and human health. Strategies for SS control are needed to protect human health andto reduce dependence of pig production on antimicrobials. This project aims to identify control points for the prevention of SS related disease in pigs and humans. Longitudinal studies in UK and Chinese farms and abattoirs (intensive and traditional systems), with whole genome sequencing of isolates, will provide guidance to new control points for disease prevention by shedding light on strain diversity, fitness, and antimicrobial resistance along the supply chain. Sequences will be compared to those obtained from pig meat products and those available from human isolates. Risk factors for carriage of SS on consumer-ready pig-meat will be investigated. We will identify avenues for environmental control of SS using transposon directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS) to explore the genes that underpin environmental survival of SS in the farm, abattoir and meat product context.All partners (Cambridge University, Huazhong Agricultural University (HAU), and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI)) have strong track records in SS research. CU and HAU hold a China Partnering Award, and all 3 work together within the existing BBSRC Longer and Larger funded consortium, 'A single platform diagnostic and multivalent vaccine approach to bacterial respiratory diseases of pigs'.

Summary

Impact Summary

The outcome of this project, and associated impact, are as follows: 1. Longitudinal data on prevalence, and antimicrobial sensitivity profiles, of SS in pigs from weaning to slaughter in UK and intensive / traditional Chinese production systems. Information on longitudinal changes in SS sequence diversity within intensive and traditional farms, including number of sequence types and antimicrobial resistance. Sequence associations /features for strains found in pigs at slaughter and on consumer-ready pig meat. Sequence associations between published human isolates and those found in pigs at slaughter, or on consumer-ready pig meat.This data is of value to veterinarians to assist in planning and implementing of appropriate control programs for disease outbreaks, including antimicrobial strategies. Also of value to researchers developing diagnostic tools that can track important vs less important strains (e.g. those that make it through to slaughter and consumer ready foods, or those strains that appear in human populations. 2. Archived SS isolates for diversity studies (approx. 250 assuming a 50% carriage rate): An importnant resource for future studies in evolutionary microbiology. 3. Preliminary descriptive information for 15 pig production farms (5 in UK, 10 in China) of on-farm risk factors for cohort prevalence for SS carriage, individual pig carriage at weaning and slaughter, incidence of streptococcal disease on farm, and appearance of new AMR phenotypes: Importn information to assist in the planning of larger scale statistically robust risk factor analyses to identify novel control programs. 4. Prevalence estimates for SS carriage and load on different pig meat products sourced from intensive and traditional systems. Information on factors associated with prevalence and bacterial load of SS on consumer-ready pig meat products in China: Important data for planning managemental apporaches to reducing S suis prevalence on consumer-ready foods. 5. Information on genes and pathways related to environmental fitness of SS in zoonotic and animal transmission contexts. Valuable information for development of novel approaches to infection control.

Committee	Research Committee B (Plants, microbes, food & sustainability)
Research Topics	Animal Health, Microbial Food Safety, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	China-UK Programme in Global Priorities (CUKPGP) [2012]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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