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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 #374417
Research Project: Evaluation of Management of Laying Hens and Housing Systems to Control Salmonella and Other Pathogenic Infections, Egg Contamination, and Product Quality

Location: Egg and Poultry Production Safety Research Unit

Title: Colonization of internal organs by Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Kentucky in experimentally infected laying hens in indoor cage-free housing.

Author
item Gast, Richard
item Guraya, Rupinder - Rupa
item Jones, Deana
item ANDERSON, KENNETH - North Carolina State University
item KARCHER, DARRIN - Purdue University

Submitted to: American Association of Avian Pathologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2020
Publication Date: 8/4/2020
Citation: Gast, R.K., Guraya, R., Jones, D.R., Anderson, K.E., Karcher, D.M. 2020. Colonization of internal organs by Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Kentucky in experimentally infected laying hens in indoor cage-free housing. American Association of Avian Pathologists. Proceedings of American Association of Avian Pathologists Annual Meeting, p.10.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Salmonella Enteritidis infections in commercial egg-laying flocks are an ongoing public health concern because reproductive organ colonization leads to deposition inside eggs. Flock housing conditions affect Salmonella persistence and transmission, but the food safety consequences of different housing systems remain unresolved. The present study assessed the invasion of internal organs after experimental S. Enteritidis and S. Kentucky infection of laying hens in indoor cage-free housing. Groups of hens were housed on wood shavings in isolation rooms simulating commercial cage-free barns and 1/3 of the hens in each room were orally inoculated with 107 cfu of either S. Enteritidis or S. Kentucky. At 6 d and 12 d post-inoculation, half of the hens in each room were euthanized and samples of liver, spleen, ovary, oviduct, and intestinal tract were removed for bacteriologic culturing. Among hens inoculated with S. Enteritidis, 100% of intestinal samples, 100% of livers, and 50% of ovaries were positive for the pathogen at 6 d post-infection. Moreover, 71% of intestines, 42% of livers, and 10% of ovaries from contact-exposed hens were colonized by S. Enteritidis at 12 d post-infection. Although 86% of hens inoculated with S. Kentucky yielded positive intestinal samples at 6 d post-infection, S. Kentucky was found in other internal organs of both inoculated and contact-exposed hens significantly (P < 0.05) less often than S. Enteritidis at both sampling intervals. These results demonstrate the potential for Salmonella infection to disseminate among hens in cage-free indoor housing, including frequent internal organ invasion by S. Enteritidis.