Location: Egg and Poultry Production Safety Research Unit
Project Number: 6040-32000-012-014-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 18, 2025
End Date: Aug 18, 2028
Objective:
Research conducted as part of this increase will be coordinated with the Cooperator as part of the project “Reduction of Foodborne Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance in Poultry Production Environments”. The projects have the common goal of identifying environmental and management variables that control the prevalence, persistence, and variability of Salmonella and Campylobacter in pre-harvest poultry production environments. Salmonella and Campylobacter are the two leading causes of bacterial foodborne illness in the U.S. and around the world. Understanding environmental drivers for Salmonella and Campylobacter within the pre-harvest production environment will help minimize pathogen loads entering the post-harvest processing facilities, and contribute to a safer food supply for consumers and sustainable production for the poultry industry.
1. Identify the mechanisms that allow Salmonella and Campylobacter to pass from flock to flock and continue to thrive in live poultry at the farm.
2. Identify, evaluate, and implement new methods to control or eliminate Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry flocks, resulting in fewer pathogens entering the meat processing system
Approach:
Salmonella and Campylobacter associated with poultry products continue to sicken consumers. Our goal is to eliminate or reduce those foodborne pathogens at the source; the live birds on the farm. To do this, we plan to determine how the bird litter influences Salmonella and Campylobacter persistence and how these pathogens pass from flock to flock, continuing to thrive in live poultry at the farm. In addition to determining “why” these pathogens continue to persist in poultry flocks, we will identify, evaluate, and implement new methods on “how” to control or eliminate Salmonella and Campylobacter that can be applied to US poultry flocks immediately. These objectives will be achieved through both benchtop traditional and molecular microbiological techniques, and through real-life testing in poultry flocks in our BSL2 bird facilities.