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Title: BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION OF EGGS

Author
item Gast, Richard

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2004
Publication Date: 9/1/2005
Citation: Gast, R.K. 2005. Bacterial contamination of eggs. In Food Safety Control in the Poultry Industry. G.C. Mead, ed. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, UK, p. 1-20.

Interpretive Summary: Not required.

Technical Abstract: This chapter explores the causes, characteristics, consequences, and control of S. Enteritidis contamination of commercially produced eggs. The first section of the chapter discusses the routes of S. Enteritidis transmission into poultry flocks and into eggs, including the host and bacterial factors that promote the infection of laying hens and how these infections bring about Salmonella deposition inside eggs. The second section discusses the nature of S. Enteritidis contamination of eggs, including the deposition, survival, and multiplication of the pathogen in various locations inside eggs. The final section discusses and assesses the most promising approaches to achieving sustainable, long-term reductions in egg-associated human illness.