Vertical and Horizontal Transmission ofSalmonellaWithin Integrated Broiler Production System

Abstract

Salmonella remains one of the leading causes of food-borne illness in the United States, and many key questions regarding the introduction and persistence in animal production systems still remain. In order to understand the ecology of Salmonella within an integrated commercial broiler production system, 289 Salmonella enterica were recovered from two integrated poultry farms during the production and processing of seven consecutive flocks. The variety and prevalence of Salmonella serotypes differed between farms. Overall, 15 serotypes were identified, with the most common being Typhimurium (55%), Montevideo (7.9%), Kentucky (9%), and Enteritidis (9.7%). Salmonella Typhimurium and Enteritidis isolates recovered from processed carcasses from Farm One were further characterized using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and were shown to be indistinguishable from isolates recovered from the poultry house environment and mice trapped on this farm. Additionally, the same broiler S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis strains, identified by PFGE, were also isolated from samples taken at a company breeder farm, suggesting vertical transmission of these Salmonella serotypes in this poultry production system. Results indicate that management practices at the breeder level may have a profound effect on the transmission and persistence of salmonellae within an integrated production system, as well as on the potential contamination of poultry-derived products.

Critical Segments in the Dissemination and Transmission of Salmonella Species from Poultry Production in Calabar, Nigeria

“…Several studies have frequently implicated poultry feeds as an important source of Salmonella species [22]. Other researchers demonstrated a rate of 1.4% of Salmonella species from poultry feeds [23] and Liljebjelke recorded 3.6% [19] which is not in agreement with the findings in this study. However, the work of Maqsood in Pakistan demonstrated 65.8% [24] and in Zaria, Nigeria researchers recorded 63.8% rate of Salmonella contamination of poultry feeds [4] which corroborates the findings recorded in this study.…”

“…This poses a serious threat both to the poultry birds themselves and most importantly to the consumer population. Several studies from different parts of the world have revealed varying recovery rates of the contamination of poultry samples by Salmonella species: a prevalence rate of 70.5% was reported in Brazil [13], 63.6% in Ethiopia [14], 53% in Vietnam [15], 35% in Spain [16], 26.6% in Bangladesh [17], 17% in USA [18], 10.1% in Georgia [19], 5% by [20] and 1% in Jamaica [21]. Such varying prevalence rates could be attributed to the differences in the geographical location as well as the standards of hygiene and sanitation practices observed by these regions.…”

“…In Georgia a low recovery rate of 1.8% Salmonella species from poultry drinking water [19] was recorded as opposed to the relatively high prevalence rate (55.3%) demonstrated in Nigeria [4]. This suggests that the water reserves in the poultry production systems in Calabar are significantly contaminated probably due to the contamination of tap heads and/or the containers used to fetch water.…”

Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) Salmonella enteritidis in Poultry and Backyard Chicken from Tiruchirappalli, India

“…Early observations showed broiler carcasses to be nearly 11 times (Odds ratio 10.62) more likely to yield Salmonella in the hot season, compared to winter season (Ellerbroek et al, 2010). These differences in isolation might be because Salmonella is more prevalent in the hotter season (Fossler et al, 2005;Liljebjelke et al, 2005). Similarly in a study from Nepal, the prevalence of Salmonella was found to be high during the months of April and May (Maharjan et al, 2006), which compares with our results of higher Salmonella prevalence during the month of April-June.…”

Salmonellosis and Related Risk Factors in Broiler Flocks in Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran

“…Contaminated food and water, for instance, are important sources of salmonellosis in chickens (4,5). The vertical transmission of these bacteria can also be an important issue in poultry (6,7). Different prevalence rate of these bacteria are reported between countries, nearly 0 in Sweden, 68.2% in Hungary (8), 76.9% in Canada (9); 69.8% in France (10); 41.3% in Turkey (11) and 25% in Denmark (12).…”