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Estimation of Most Probable Number Salmonella Populations on Commercial North Carolina Turkey Farms

Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695

Correspondence: B. W. Sheldon, E-mail: brian_sheldon{at}ncsu.edu

Salmonellae are one of the primary causes of human gastroenteritis in the United States. Although there are many foods that may be contaminated with Salmonella, poultry products are one of the major vehicles for transmitting this organism to humans. However, the national incidence of poultry product contamination with Salmonella has declined since adoption of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) food safety program. Further reductions in carcass contamination may require other approaches such as the adoption of on-farm pathogen reduction strategies. In this study Salmonella prevalence and populations from fresh excreta and litter composite samples taken from 12 commercial turkey farms were enumerated using the most probable number (MPN) method and compared as a function of farm, season (summer and winter), and bird age (3 vs. 19 wk). Moreover, litter pH, temperature, moisture content, water activity, and ammonia levels were monitored. All farms were Salmonella positive for at least one season, and populations ranged from <1 log MPN/g to >5.3 log MPN/g. Of the 48 separate fecal and litter composite samples analyzed, 70 and 79% were Salmonella-positive, respectively. Although the MPN enumeration method is much more labor intensive and costly than the prevalence method, it yields estimates of Salmonella populations instead of merely indications of presence or absence of the organism. Moreover, our findings demonstrated that the MPN method is significantly more sensitive compared with the prevalence procedure (for fecal samples). This study also demonstrated that Salmonella can be present at high populations during turkey production and that their populations and prevalence were significantly impacted by flock age (litter) and season by farm interactions (fecal). Furthermore, litter Salmonella populations appear to be associated with the interrelated parameters of litter pH, ammonia and moisture content.

Key Words: turkey • farm • Salmonella population • litter • feces

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