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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Egg and Poultry Production Safety Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342647
Research Project: Evaluation of Management of Laying Hens and Housing Systems to Control Salmonella and Other Pathogenic Infections, Egg Contamination, and Product Quality

Location: Egg and Poultry Production Safety Research Unit

Title: Salmonella infections

Author
item Gast, Richard
item PORTER, ROBERT - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Diseases of Poultry
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/29/2017
Publication Date: 1/15/2020
Citation: Gast, Richard K. and Robert E. Porter, Jr., 2020. Salmonella infections. Pages 719-753 in Diseases of Poultry, 14th edition. D. E. Swayne, ed. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Infections of poultry with bacteria of the genus Salmonella can cause clinical disease, but are of greater current concern as agents of food-borne transmission of illness to humans. However, two nonmotile organisms, S. Pullorum and S. Gallinarum, are host-specific for avian species. Pullorum disease, caused by S. Pullorum, is an acute systemic disease of chicks or poults. Fowl typhoid, caused by S. Gallinarum, is an acute or chronic septicemic disease that most often affects mature birds. Both of these pathogens have been responsible for serious economic losses since the inception of commercial poultry production and remain widely prevalent in some regions. Because they cause vertically transmissible diseases, control efforts emphasize testing and eradication programs in breeding flocks. Most other Salmonella serovars are motile and can infect a wide variety of hosts, including invertebrate and vertebrate wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. Collectively referred to as paratyphoid salmonellae, these organisms are principally significant as vehicles of food-borne illness. Although paratyphoid infections of poultry are common, they seldom cause acute clinical disease except in highly susceptible young birds subjected to stressful conditions. More often, paratyphoid infections of poultry are characterized by asymptomatic (although sometimes persistent) colonization of the intestinal tract and internal organs, potentially leading to contamination of finished carcasses. Some serovars, especially S. Enteritidis, are deposited inside the contents of eggs laid by systemically infected hens. Because there are many potential sources for the introduction of salmonellae into poultry flocks, effective strategies for controlling these zoonotic pathogens require the sustained implementation of comprehensive risk reduction practices throughout the production continuum.