ARS | Publication request: Salmonella Infections

Submitted to: Diseases of Poultry
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: October 1, 2007
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Citation: Gast, R.K. 2008. Salmonella Infections: Diseases of Poultry, 12th edition. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, Iowa, pp.619.

Technical Abstract: Infections with bacteria of the genus Salmonella are responsible for a variety of acute and chronic diseases in poultry. These diseases continue to cause economically significant losses in many nations and absorb a large investment of resources in testing and control efforts in others. Infected poultry flocks are also among the most important reservoirs of salmonellae that can be transmitted through the food chain to humans. Poultry producers are faced with intensifying pressures from public health and regulatory authorities to protect consumers from illness transmitted by contaminated poultry meat and eggs. Poultry and poultry products are consistently among the leading animal sources of salmonellae that enter the human food supply. This circumstance is partly due to the high prevalence of Salmonella infections in poultry, but also reflects both the immense numbers of commercially raised chickens and turkeys and the application of extensive and active programs for identifying infected poultry flocks and products. The increasingly international scope of the modern poultry industry has created new and more complex opportunities for the spread of Salmonella.