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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #327615
Research Project: Identification of the Ecological Niches and Development of Intervention Strategies to Reduce Pathogenic Foodborne Pathogens in Poultry

Location: Food and Feed Safety Research

Title: Multi-microbial compounds eliminate or reduce Salmonella Typhimurium from one-third of poultry liter samples within 8 days

Author
item Sheffield, Cynthia
item Crippen, Tawni - Tc
item Beier, Ross

Submitted to: Research Journal of Poultry Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/23/2016
Publication Date: 7/25/2018
Citation: Sheffield, C.L., Crippen, T.L., Beier, R.C. 2018. Multi-microbial compounds eliminate or reduce Salmonella Typhimurium from one-third of poultry liter samples within 8 days. Research Journal of Poultry Sciences. 11(1), 5-8. https://doi.org/10.36478/rjpscience.2018.5.8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36478/rjpscience.2018.5.8

Interpretive Summary: Poultry are generally reared on bedding, such as wood shavings, peanut, or rice hulls. It has become economically important to reuse poultry litter for multiple flocks, often resulting in litter serving as a reservoir of microbes such as Salmonella, Escherichia, and Campylobacter. Previous research demonstrated that during the pre-harvest feed withdrawal period, bird consumption of contaminated litter can lead to infection of the upper gastrointestinal tract with Salmonella, which presents significant problems during processing. This study examined efficacy of two commercially available compost enhancers (CE1 and CE2) in reducing Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) in poultry litter. After 8 days, CE1 had an average 6-log decrease in ST concentration and elimination of ST in one third of the samples. CE2 had an average 4-log decrease in ST concentration, but did not eliminate ST from any of the samples. This suggests that both materials could potentially decrease the down-time required to substantially reduce the ST concentration in reused litter. Further, these materials are easily incorporated and safe for poultry and humans. This could provide both economic and food safety advantages to the broiler producers and enhance the overall food safety of poultry products.

Technical Abstract: Reuse of poultry litter (bedding + poultry manure) is economically important; however, this material often serves as a reservoir of Salmonella. According to research, consumption of litter by poultry during the pre-harvest feed withdrawal period can lead to gastrointestinal tract Salmonella infections. This study examined the efficacy of two multi-microbial suspensions (CE1; CE2) in reducing Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) in poultry litter. Laboratory formulated litter (sterile poultry manure + bedding) was inoculated with MMS treatments and incubated for 48 hours, to simulate the practice of pretreating a poultry house prior to introduction of birds. ST (10^8 cfu/mL) was then added to the litter, and the ST load was analyzed every other day for 8 days. CE1 exhibited superior efficacy by eliminating ST from one-third of the samples by day 8, while ST concentrations in CE2 treated litter were not significantly different from that of the control. CE1, which is easily incorporated and safe for poultry and humans, could potentially shorten the time between flocks required to substantially reduce the ST concentration in reused litter, thus providing both economic and food safety advantages to broiler producers and enhancing the overall food safety of poultry products.