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Title: Partitioning of external and internal bacteria carried by broiler chickens before processing

Author
item Cason Jr, John
item Hinton Jr, Arthur
item Northcutt, Julie
item Buhr, Richard - Jeff
item Ingram, Kimberly
item Smith, Douglas
item Cox Jr, Nelson

Submitted to: Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/2007
Publication Date: 7/8/2007
Citation: Cason Jr, J.A., Hinton Jr, A., Northcutt, J.K., Buhr, R.J., Ingram, K.D., Smith, D.P., Cox Jr, N.A. 2007. Partitioning of external and internal bacteria carried by broiler chickens before processing [abstract]. Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract. 86(Suppl.1):382.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Broiler chickens from the loading dock of a commercial processing plant were sampled to determine incidence and counts of index/indicator and pathogenic bacteria. Feathers were removed by hand from ten 6-week-old chickens from each of 7 different flocks and rinsed in 400 ml of 0.1% peptone water. Heads and feet were removed and rinsed and the picked carcass was also rinsed, each in 200 ml. The ceca, colon, and crop were aseptically removed and stomached separately in 100 ml of peptone water. Campylobacter was present in 6 of the 7 flocks. Salmonella was isolated from 50 of the 70 carcasses with at least two positive carcasses in each flock, with five-tube MPN assays performed on positive samples. Significantly more coliforms and Escherichia coli were found in the ceca compared to feathers, which in turn carried more than the other samples, but total external and internal counts were roughly equivalent. Counts of Campylobacter were higher in ceca and colon than in other samples. Salmonella was isolated in external samples from 46 of the 50 positive carcasses compared to 26 positive internal samples or 17 positives in the ceca alone. Total MPN of Salmonella was approximately equivalent in all samples, indicating that contamination was distributed through all external and internal sampling locations. Salmonella-positive samples did not carry higher counts of coliforms or E. coli, and there were no significant correlations between the indicators and pathogens in any sample. There were low but significant correlations for counts of coliforms (also E. coli and Campylobacter) in ceca:feathers and ceca:colon comparisons, but not for Salmonella. The pattern of bacterial contamination before processing is complex and highly variable.