P1-32 Program Development to Determine Internalized Salmonella Prevalence Rate in Turkey Flocks by Testing Spleens

Monday, July 29, 2013
Exhibit Hall (Charlotte Convention Center)
Ted Brown, Cargill, Inc., Wichita, KS
Michelle Riemann, Cargill, Inc., Wichita, KS
Oscar Esquivel, Cargill, Inc., Wichita, KS
Introduction: Food safety is an important issue for everyone in the food supply chain, farm to fork. Salmonella has been known to be internalized in poultry. Understanding the flock quantitative and qualitative levels of Salmonella infection/prevalence rate would provide an accurate assessment of pre-harvest contamination.

Purpose: To develop a spleen testing protocol to determine flock prevalence and quantitative levels of Salmonella.

Methods: Salmonella spleen flock prevalence rate was determined by sampling 1% of each flock at a commercial slaughter operation during evisceration over a four month testing period. The external surface of spleens was sterilized prior to Salmonella analysis utilizing Dupont BAX. Flock prevalence rate was calculated by (number positive samples per flock/total number of samples per flock) multiplied by 100. Salmonella enumeration was completed on all Salmonella-positive samples utilizing FSIS MPN methodology.

Results: During the four month test, 104 flocks were sampled. Forty-four flocks yielded negative Salmonella spleen samples. There were fifty flocks with less than 50% Salmonella spleen incidence. Only ten flocks had greater than 50% Salmonella spleen incidence. This study demonstrated that Salmonella presence in spleens varied widely by flock, indicating a qualitative testing approach would generate value. The enumeration level of Salmonella did not trend with the Salmonella % flock positive rate.

Significance: The Salmonella spleen incidence data could be used to help improve bird health and may help explain the variation in ground turkey incidence rate. A flock spleen qualitative Salmonella testing can advance Salmonella control through production scheduling based on prevalence.