TDK conference 2018

My research, which was performed during February and April 2017, studied how Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. enter the broiler farm, and how they spread through the poultry meat production chain. During the study I was looking for the following Salmonella serotypes: S. Infantis, S. Enteriditits and S. Typhimurium. From these, S. Enteriditits and S. Typhimurium are pathogenic, and any chicken meat on the market must be free of them.

Since the Salmonella eradication program, Campylobacter spp. became the most prevalent foodborne pathogen, therefore it was also included in my study. Throughout the study 1370 samples were analysed. The samples were collected from the first day of the poultry’s arrival to the farm until their proccesing. The following samples were gathered: 480 samples from the environment in which the poultry was fattened, 120 samples from the cloacae, 20 samples from the transport crates at the slaughterhouse, 480 samples from the carcasses and offals, 70 samples during the processing, and 200 samples from the chilled and packed poultry meat. The identification of the bacteria was perfomed by redox potential measurment, followed by real-time PCR.

The samples taken from the farm showed a 59,5% positivity, the samples from the transport crates a 70% positivity and the samples from the carcasses during the slaughtering a 81,6% positivity for Salmonella. 81% of the meat samples were positive for Salmonella enterica, and from these 67% were identified as S. Infantis. The 100% of the packaged products were found positive. Salmonella Enteriditis could not be found in any of the collected samples from the entire food chain. According to the outcome of the Samonella eradication program, S. Typhimurium was only present in a percentage of 1,16 in the samples taken from the farm. Furthermore, S. Enteriditis and S. Typhimurium could not be detected in any of the poultry meat samples.

Campylobacter appeared in the farm in the third week of the production. Samples from the farm showed 86% positivity and samples from the chilled and packed poultry meat 93% positivity.

According to our study, similarly to earlier publications, showed that the appearance of these two microbes are connected to the drinking water. That is why a more thorough control and disinfection of the water system would be advisable.