SASAKI Yoshimasa Professor

My DreamImproving food safety based on science and mutual understanding among people in food chain.

ThemePrevalence of foodborne pathogenic bacteria in livestock farms, Relationship between antibiotic use and the selection of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria on livestock farms

Field

Food hygiene, Microbiology, Animal hygiene

Keyword

Food safety, Foodborne pathogenic bacteria, Antimicrobial-resistant bacteris, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Genetic phylogenetic analysis

Instructable research topic for doctoral thesis

農場から食卓まで食中毒菌の汚染実態の解明と汚染低減対策の確立
畜産農場における抗菌薬使用と薬剤耐性菌の選択
薬剤耐性因子の同定
細菌の遺伝子学的系統解析

Message

私は研究歴よりも公務員獣医師として動物衛生や公衆衛生(特に食品安全)に関する行政事務の従事した期間の方が圧倒的に長く、大学教員としては異質であると思います。しかし、近年、行政を円滑・効率的に進めていくためには科学データに基づいた説明と国民(消費者)の理解・協力が不可欠であり、これらに対応できる行政職員の育成と行政利用に直結した研究(レギュラトリーサイエンス)が必要であると認識されるようになりました。
獣医師を目指す多くの学生は、臨床獣医師をイメージして帯広畜産大学に入学したと思います。もちろん、獣医師は獣医療分野での活躍を期待されていますが、動物衛生や公衆衛生に関する行政事務やレギュラトリーサイエンスといった分野でも活躍が期待されています。特に食品安全行政においては、人口増加、森林破壊、砂漠化、廃棄物の不法投棄などの世界規模の環境問題によって、国際的に安全な食品の確保が難しくなっており、食品(畜産物)の生産過程から消費過程を熟知している獣医師が活躍しやすい分野であると思います。勤務先も国や地方公共団体に加え、世界保健機関(WHO)、食糧農業機関(FAO)、コーデックス委員会などの国際機関もありますので、進路の1つとして公務員獣医師やレギュラトリーサイエンスの研究者を検討してみてください。

Academic degree D.Vet
License Veterinarian
Self introduction

I am from Aichi prefecture. I graduated from the Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine in 1996, and returned after about 27 years. After graduating from the university, I have been doing administrative work and research work. I have been studying foodborne pathogenic bacteria, such as Campylobacter and Salmonella, in food for the past 15 years. I would like to continue this research at this university. Also, I would like to nurture students who aim to work as civil servants. I like short trips. Now that I have come all the way back to Hokkaido, I would like to go to many sightseeing spots just like I did when I was a student.

Room addressGeneral Research Building 1
Room numberS2103-2
Mail address ysasaki atmark obihiro.ac.jp

Belongs

Research Department/Department of Veterinary Medicine/Division of Veterinary Sciences/Section of Applied Veterinary SciencesDiagnostic Center for Animal Health and Food Safety/Inspection Accuracy Management Laboratory

Introduction

Chicken eggs, chicken, pork and beef are sources of high-quality protein, and also support Japan's diverse food culture. On the other hand, it is also known as causative foods of non-typhoidal salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis, which are most commonly known as bacterial food poisoning. In particular, many of the salmonellosis cases, which have increased sharply since 1990, are presumed to be caused by eating Salmonella-contaminated chicken eggs. Therefore, the government launched various countermeasures across the entire egg food chain, such as strengthening the import quarantine of day old chicks, strengthening hygiene measures for breeding chicken farms, laying-hen farms, and egg grading and packaging centers. However, these two food poisoning cases still rank high among bacterial food poisoning incidents, and there is a continuing need to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter food poisoning caused by chicken eggs, chicken, pork and beef. In addition, antibiotics used on farms have made these bacteria resistant, and eating food contaminated with resistant bacteria has led to medical problems such as infection with resistant bacteria. Therefore, there is also a need to reduce the resistance rate of these bacteria. In order to achieve these goals, not only the livestock industry, but also food manufacturers, restaurants, consumers, and all other stakeholders in the food chain should be aware of the status of Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination and the implementation of biological countermeasures in the food chain. After sharing and understanding such information, each stakeholder needs to implement countermeasures to reduce these food poisoning incidents. Therefore, we are continuously investigating the contamination status of Salmonella and Campylobacter in the food chain and the antimicrobial resistance status of the isolates.

List of current research topics

Prevalence of foodborne pathogenic bacteria in livestock farms
Relationship between antibiotic use and the selection of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria on livestock farms
Identification of antimicrobial resistance factors
Genetic phylogenetic analysis of foodborne pathogenic bacteria

Related industries Veterinary pharmaceuticals, Animal husbandry, Veterinary medicine, Microbiokigical testing
Affiliated academic society The Japanese Society of Veterinary Science, The Japanese Society of Food hygiene and Safety, The Japanese Society of Food Microbiology, The Japanese Society of Poultry Diseases, The Japanese Society of Campylobacter Research, The Japanese Society of Antimicrobials for animals
Academic background 1991—1996 Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
1996-2016 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
2017-2022 National Institute of Health Sciences
2023- Current