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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 #421113
Research Project: Reduction of Foodborne Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance in Poultry Production Environments

Location: Egg and Poultry Production Safety Research Unit

Title: E. coli diversity along the Farm-to-Fork continuum of pastured poultry flocks in the Southeastern United States

Author
item AL HAKEEM, WALID - Department Of Energy
item KIM, MINHO - Department Of Energy
item Rothrock Jr, Michael

Submitted to: International Poultry Scientific Forum
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/25/2024
Publication Date: 1/5/2025
Citation: Al Hakeem, W.G., Kim, M., Rothrock Jr, M.J. 2025. E. coli diversity along the Farm-to-Fork continuum of pastured poultry flocks in the Southeastern United States. International Poultry Scientific Forum. p. 325.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Greater consumer demand for antibiotic-free, locally produced poultry products has increased pastured poultry operations in the United States. Given the increased level of environmental interaction and the potential increase in exposure to foodborne pathogens, a greater understanding of the prevalence and diversity of E. coli populations inherent within pastured poultry flocks is required. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize E. coli throughout the farm-to-fork continuum to see how different management or environmental variables affect the ecology of this bacteria. Forty-two pastured poultry flocks from 11 farms were sampled using a farm-to-fork strategy, and E. coli was isolated and characterized through pre-harvest (feces, soil) to post-harvest (ceca, whole carcass rinse) to the final product (whole carcass rinse) the consumer would purchase. One-way ANOVA with farm location or sample type as the main effect, followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison method for pairwise comparison, was performed using R software. E. coli was isolated from 1897 of 1935 samples, representing an overall prevalence of 98%. The feces showed the highest (p<0.05) E. coli load (6.54 log10 CFU/mL) and prevalence (100%), while the final product whole carcass rinses had the lowest (p<0.05) E. coli load (1.63 log10 CFU/mL) and prevalence (85.21%), showing a downward trend observed from preharvest to postprocessing samples. Of the 1897 positive samples, 860 E. coli isolates were selected for further characterization. Even though these flocks were raised antibiotic-free, E. coli isolates exhibited resistance to a variety of antibiotics, with the two most common resistances being toward tetracycline and streptomycin (43.83 and 13.13%, respectively). Multidrug resistance phenotypes (='3 antibiotic classes) were relatively low for E. coli isolates (9.53%). E. coli load and prevalence were more affected by farm location than by the type of sample from which the E. coli was isolated. Overall, these results indicated a need for farm-specific E. coli mitigation strategies to ensure the safety of these increasingly in-demand poultry products.