Studies on the incidence of Salmonella carriers in broiler flocks entering a poultry processing plant in Australia.
To evaluate the practical utility of competitive exclusion as an aid in controlling Salmonella, a survey was conducted in New South Wales, Australia to determine the incidence of Salmonella in 20 broiler flocks at time of slaughter during a 12-month period. The Salmonella incidence was determined by culturing the ceca of 50 randomly selected chickens per flock. The results demonstrated a high level of carriers (more than 30%) in 6 flocks, a moderate level of carriers (11 to 30%) in 4 flocks, a low level of carriers (1 to 10%) in 2 flocks, and 8 flocks from which no Salmonella were isolated. Five Salmonella serotypes, S. eimsbeutel , S. havana, S. luanshya , S. singapore, and S. typhimurium were isolated with S. typhimurium being the most common. Salmonellae were much less frequently isolated from flocks reared on old litter than on new litter.
D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002645:Chickens; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012621:Seasons