Source: UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA submitted to
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CONTROL OF SALMONELLA SPP. IN GROUND POULTRY PRODUCTION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1006323
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
GEO00748
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 4, 2016
Project End Date
Apr 10, 2017
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Alali, W.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
200 D.W. BROOKS DR
ATHENS,GA 30602-5016
Performing Department
Center for Food Safety
Non Technical Summary
Foodborne salmonellosis is a common cause of foodborne disease in the United States. Poultry products continue to be an important source of Salmonella infections in humans. Consumption of ground poultry products has been linked to multistate salmonellosis outbreaks. These products are known to have higher contamination levels compared to raw poultry meat. Additional research studies are needed to better understand Salmonella spp. infection and transmission routes from processed birds to the finished products. The knowledge gained from the proposed research will assist the poultry industry in developing mitigation strategies to control Salmonella spp. contamination of ground poultry.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
71232601170100%
Goals / Objectives
To determine the effect of grinding turkey parts with or without skin and/or bone of poultry (broiler and turkey) carcasses on Salmonella contamination levels (numbers and presence) of finished products, at the flock level.Compare the ability of a number of Salmonella serotypes (poultry source) to cause systemic infection vs. pathogenic/virulent Salmonella strains obtained from salmonellosis outbreaks linked to consumption of poultry meat.
Project Methods
Objective 1. MethodsWe propose to test poultry parts and ground products at the processing plants. Parts (n=300 of thigh, drumsticks, wings, and ground product; total 1,200 samples) will be collected from the second processing lines at the following points: 1) before deboning, 2) after deboning, and 3) at the ground finished product. At the processing plant, depending whether it is for turkeys or broilers, different grinders grind different parts. For instance, in turkey processing plants, drumsticks are deboned and processed at a separate line/grinder than that for drumsticks. We will test for Salmonella presence and numbers of thigh, drumsticks, and wings in: 1) before deboning: the skin and bones of the parts; 2) after deboning: the skin and the surrounding meat where the bone was (to check for bone marrow-Salmonella contamination), and 3) ground product.The samples will be collected from flocks with historically high ground Salmonella contamination data (i.e., ≥20%). Although the targeted historical high flock might not be the first flock after sanitation, we will ensure that the flocks processed before the target are anticipated to low-contamination flocks. A total of 30 flocks will be sampled over the course of the study for a total of 1,200 samples. From each flock, 30 samples will be collected (i.e., 10 samples per line/grinder). These samples will composed of: 6 drumsticks (3 before and 3 after deboning) and 4 ground turkey (25 g) per grinder. Similar to drumsticks, samples from thighs and wings will be collected per grinder. All parts will be packed individually and shipped on ice to the University of Georgia-Center for Food Safety for Salmonella analysis.Salmonella analysisThe skin, bone, and meat samples will be analyzed based on USDA-FSIS methods for the determination of Salmonella MPN and detection. We have established protocols for Salmonella microbiological analyses in our laboratory (Wu et al., 2014; Cui et al., in preparation).Objective 2. MethodsA series of experimental studies will be conducted to assess the ability of Salmonella serotypes to systemically infect broilers and turkeys under various conditions that mimic 'real-life' scenarios of poultry farms.We propose the following set of experimental studies to be conducted to achieve our objectives:Experiment set 1: Testing three serotypes and three routes of infections: Four groups (n = 20 each) of 6-week old chickens or 18-week old turkeys from a commercial farm will be obtained and infected with a high load (103 CFU/ml) of nalidixic acid (NA)-Salmonella Enteritidis, Heidelberg, or Typhimurium, and a no treatment control, intravenously. The birds will be housed at BSL-2 facility at Southern Poultry Research, Inc. Blood samples will collected few hours, a day, and seven days post challenge. The following organs (bone marrow, spleen, liver, and ceca) will be collected seven days post-challenge. All samples will be tested for the presence of Salmonella serotypes at the University of Georgia-Center for Food Safety laboratories (Wu et al., 2014; Cui et al., in preparation). The study will be repeated but with different infection routes (orally and intracloacally).Experiment set 2: Based on the results from Experiment 1; we will use the most effective combination of a serotype and route of infection to test the age dependency. A similar study design to Experiment 1, but starting with a one-week old birds (after infection validation) and following them to 6 weeks will be carried out. Birds will be euthanized weekly and samples will be collected and tested for the presence of Salmonella.Experiment set 3: If the NA-Salmonella serotype strains did not result in systemic infection (based on Experiments 1 and 2), then virulent Salmonella strains isolated from poultry meat that was linked to salmonellosis outbreak will be used. Thus, a new set of experiments will be conducted to test the new strains ability to systemically infect broilers. In addition, routes of infections and age dependence with the new virulent strains will be tested.

Progress 01/04/16 to 04/10/17

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? PI no longer with UGA

Publications


    Progress 01/04/16 to 09/30/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? PI no longer with UGA

    Publications