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.