cattle drinking water QUality-welfare indicator sUmmary The paper describes the importance of hygienic quality of drinking water and its influence on health, productivity and welfare of cattle. Quality of water from four different sources was determined in a laboratory by testing the organoleptic, physico-chemical and bacteriologic parameters. Samples that were not in compliance with the requirements of the Croatian standards for drinking water were disinfected, in vitro, with chlorine and hydrogen per-oxide based disinfectants. In a field study such disinfected water was offered to cattle. The study results, obtained by monitoring the drinking behaviour of cattle, have shown no preferences of non-disinfected over disinfected water with possible changed taste or odour.

Campylobacteriosis is a leading cause of food poisoning in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, and identifying reservoirs of infection is important in disease prevention. Although campylobacteriosis is considered rare in Africa, research indicates that chicken meat is contaminated in African countries as well. Monitoring the prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in broiler meat production indicates variability depending on the country, season, source of the sample and hygiene in primary production (farms) and broiler meat processing (slaughterhouses/production plants). Therefore, the purpose of this review was to improve the understanding of the impact of implementing appropriate sanitation measures on reducing contamination with Campylobacter species in primary production and processing of chicken meat, in facilities with implemented HACCP and Halal control systems. The alignment with EU legislation regulates hygiene criteria in primary production and processing of chicken meat. The application of rigorous hygiene measures at all stages of chicken meat production can reduce the number of thermophilic Campylobacter species on broiler chicken carcasses. By setting the recommended EU critical limit of 1000 CFU/g for contamination of broiler neck skin in slaughterhouses, the incidence of campylobacteriosis can be reduced by 40% to 90%.