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Title: SEROTYPE TRACKING OF SALMONELLA THROUGH INTEGRATED BROILER CHICKEN OPERATIONS

Author
item Bailey, Joseph
item Cox Jr, Nelson
item Craven, Stephen
item Cosby, Douglas

Submitted to: Journal of Food Protection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/11/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Limiting the amount of Salmonella which gets onto chickens on the farm is essential in order to process chickens in a way that will always meet the Food Safety Inspection Service mandated standards. To implement effective interventions, it is necessary to know where the Salmonella is coming from. Previous studies have shown the importance reducing exposure of Salmonella to the young chick in the hatchery. This study looked earlier in the integrated production process and found that the Salmonella found from the previous grow-out environment and the hatchery to be the primary stains of Salmonella on the final processed carcass. Effective intervention strategies will need to be developed to address both of these critical control points.

Technical Abstract: The widespread presence of Salmonella in all phases of broiler chicken production and processing is well documented. However, little information is available to show the identity and movement of specific serotypes of Salmonella through the different phases of an integrated operation. In this study, samples were collected from the breeder farm, hatchery, previous grow-out flock, during grow-out, and after processing. Salmonella were recovered from 6, 98, 24, 60 and 7 % of the samples in the first trial and from 7, 98, 26, 22, and 36 % of the samples in the second trial, respectfively. Seven different serotypes were identified in the first trial and 12 different serotypes were identified in the second trial. In both trials there was a poor correlation between the serotypes found from the breeder farms and those found in the hatchery. This and the fact that similar serotypes were found in the hatchery in both trials suggests that there was an endemic population of Salmonella in the hatchery. An association between the serotypes found in the hatchery and those found on the final processed carcasses was observed in both trials. This study confirms that development of successful intervention strategies for broiler production operations must have a component which emphasizes disinfection in the hatchery.