Salmonella serotype distribution in the Dutch broiler supply chain

Abstract

Salmonella serotype distribution can give insight in contamination routes and persistence along a production chain. Therefore, it is important to determine not only Salmonella prevalence but also to specify the serotypes involved at the different stages of the supply chain. For this purpose, data from a national monitoring program in the Netherlands were used to estimate the serotype distribution and to determine whether this distribution differs for the available sampling points in the broiler supply chain. Data covered the period from 2002 to 2005, all slaughterhouses (n = 22), and the following 6 sampling points: departure from hatchery, arrival at the farm, departure from the farm, arrival at the slaughterhouse, departure from the slaughterhouse, and end of processing. Furthermore, retail data for 2005 were used for comparison with slaughterhouse data. The following serotypes were followed throughout the chain: Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java (Salmonella Java), Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Virchow, and Salmonella Mbandaka. Results showed that serotype distribution varied significantly throughout the supply chain (P < 0.05). Main differences were found at the farm and at the slaughterhouse (within one stage), and least differences were found between departure from one stage and arrival at the next stage. The most prominent result was the increase of Salmonella Java at farm level. This serotype remained the most prominent pathogen throughout the broiler supply chain up to the retail phase.

Prevalence and distribution of Salmonella serotypes in marketed broiler chickens and processing environment in Coimbatore City of southern India

“…Salmonella contamination levels in broiler chicken encountered in the present study found to be comparable with reports from some countries, though it vary widely with reports from some other countries (Van Asselt et al, 2009;Yan et al, 2010) Considering the poor processing conditions in the retail outlets of the study area chances of cross contamination are rather high, even from a low level of prevalence. The results of our study showed more frequent isolation of Salmonellae from crop region followed by caecae.…”

“…Poultry has been identified as an important vehicle for food borne salmonellosis (Van Asselt, Thissen, & van der Fels-Klerx, 2009). Persistent environmental contamination of housing is reported to be another important factor in increasing Salmonella infection in poultry.…”

Molecular Characterization of Motile Serovars of Salmonella enterica from Breeder and Commercial Broiler Poultry Farms in Bangladesh

“…S. Java was frequently isolated from the breeder farms, although a single isolate was obtained from a broiler farm. This is a recently emerging serovar reported particularly from the Netherlands [7], [37], Germany [38] and imported poultry meat has been identified its major source to infect humans in Scotland [39]. Single or multiple flocks in each breeder farm were also positive with S. Enteritidis, which is alarming, because this is the only serovar that truly infects the oviduct of poultry, thereby being transmitted to their progeny vertically [40] or pseudo-vertically.…”

The European Union Summary Report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food in 2011

“…In 2010, there were two strong-evidence outbreaks in the EU involving 132 cases, of whom 17 were hospitalised (EFSA and ECDC, 2012). S. Java is the most common serovar reported in poultry in the Netherlands (EFSA, 2008b, van Asselt et al, 2009 and an increase in the prevalence of this serovar in poultry has been reported in Germany (Dorn et al, 2001). This ranking is partly attributable to the very high prevalence in Germany and the Netherlands, where this serovar was responsible for 20.7 % and 53.5 %, respectively, of all Salmonella isolates in broiler meat (EFSA and ECDC, 2012).…”