Comparison of whole carcass condemnation and partial carcass condemnation data for integration in a national syndromic surveillance system: The Swiss experience

• Two years of Swiss data on whole and partial carcass condemnation were compared.
• Both time series (daily number of condemnations) differed in terms of behaviour.
• Carcass condemnation type (whole versus partial) is likely the result of different health events in the cattle population.
• Both should be considered by early detection and herd health monitoring programs.

We obtained partial carcass condemnation (PCC) data for cattle (2009–2010) from a Swiss slaughterhouse. Data on whole carcass condemnations (WCC) carried out at the same slaughterhouse over those years were extracted from the national database for meat inspection. We found that given the differences observed in the WCC and PCC time series, it is likely that both indicators respond to different health events in the population and that one cannot be substituted by the other. Because PCC recordings are promising for syndromic surveillance, the meat inspection database should be capable to record both WCC and PCC data in the future. However, a standardised list of reasons for PCC needs to be defined and used nationwide in all slaughterhouses.