EVALUATION OF FLUORESCENT IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION (FISH) AS A RAPID SCREENING METHOD FOR DETECTION OF SALMONELLA IN TONSILS OF SLAUGHTERED PIGS FOR CONSUMPTION: A COMPARISON WITH CONVENTIONAL CULTURE METHOD

The pork tonsils are an important carrier of Salmonella, which could be involved in the contamination of pork products during the slaughter process. This paper reports a 23S rRNA fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) method used as a rapid screening tool for Salmonella detection in tonsils of slaughtered pigs and its comparison with the conventional culture method. As a rapid screening method, the FISH technique would reduce the high volume of negative samples that are routinely analyzed, indicating presumptive positive samples in a real and practical time. The use of a Sal3 probe allowed the rapid (7 h) Salmonella detection in 16 (34%) of 47 naturally contaminated tonsils, without pre‐enrichment. Salmonella was isolated by the culture method in six samples that were also FISH‐positive samples, and FISH failed to identify only one of the culture‐positive samples. The results indicate the potential of this technique as a rapid screening method for detecting Salmonella in tonsils from pork slaughtered for consumption.