title: Reservoir competence of Carcinops pumilio for Salmonella enteritidis (Eubacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae).
abstract: The histerid beetle Carcinops pumilio (Erichson) occurs naturally in poultry house manure and is an important predator of house fly eggs and larvae. Because efforts to commercially produce C. pumilio have been unsuccessful, one fly control strategy under consideration is the direct transport of adult C. pumilio between poultry houses to facilitate their establishment. However, we demonstrate that C. pumilio is a competent reservoir of Salmonella enteritidis (Gaertner). Adult C. pumilio exposed to S. enteritidis-inoculated house fly eggs harbored the bacterium externally and internally for up to 4 and 13 d, respectively, and feces were culture-positive for S. enteritidis for at least 14 d. This suggests that C. pumilio can be a reservoir of S. enteritidis; therefore its movement between poultry facilities should be carefully considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Pennsylyania State University, University Park 16802-3508, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Maddox
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Tobin
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gummo
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Pitts
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D006793:Houseflies; D006799:Housing, Animal; D007814:Larva; D010063:Ovum; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011200:Poultry; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012477:Salmonella enteritidis / Q000302:isolation & purification*