Skip to main content
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 #292181
Title: Isolation of Salmonella Enteritidis from Internal Organs of Experimentally Infected Laying Hens Housed in Conventional or Enriched Cages

Author
item Gast, Richard
item Guraya, Rupinder - Rupa
item Jones, Deana
item ANDERSON, K - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/12/2012
Publication Date: 7/22/2013
Citation: Gast, R.K., Guraya, R., Jones, D.R., Anderson, K.E. 2013. Isolation of Salmonella Enteritidis from Internal Organs of Experimentally Infected Laying Hens Housed in Conventional or Enriched Cages. Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract. 92(1):26.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Human illness caused by Salmonella Enteritidis has been more frequently linked to the consumption of contaminated eggs than to any other food source. This pathogen can be deposited inside the edible contents of eggs when reproductive organs are colonized in systemically infected laying hens. In recent years, the animal welfare consequences of various housing systems for laying flocks have come under intense international scrutiny. However, the public health (food safety) implications of different laying hen production systems remain largely unresolved. The present study evaluated the effects of two types of housing (conventional cages and colony cages enriched with perching, nesting, and scratching areas) on S. Enteritidis invasion of internal organs in experimentally infected laying hens. In two trials, groups of laying hens housed in each cage system were orally inoculated with doses of 107 cfu of S. Enteritidis. At 5-6 d post-inoculation, hens were euthanized and samples of internal organs were removed for bacteriologic culturing. S. Enteritidis was recovered from 95% of cecal samples, with no significant differences observed between housing systems. However, S. Enteritidis was detected at significantly (P < 0.05) higher frequencies from hens in conventional cages than from hens in enriched cages for samples of livers (97% vs. 75%), spleens (94% vs. 53%), ovaries (25% vs. 10%), and oviducts (20% vs. 2%). These results suggest that production systems for housing egg-laying flocks can influence the susceptibility of hens to internal organ colonization by S. Enteritidis.