Evaluation of a rapid cultural method for identification of salmonellas in naturally contaminated veterinary samples

Multidrug-resistant Salmonellae isolated in Japanese quails reared in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Salmonellosis is a major bacterial disease causing huge economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. This study was carried out to determine the period prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella enterica in Japanese quails in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Four hundred cloacal swabs of quail birds were collected from 4 locations within Abeokuta. Salmonella was isolated from the samples using conventional methods for selective isolation of Salmonella and biochemical identification. Isolates were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction assays for the amplification and detection of Salmonella-associated virulence genes (invA and stn) using specific primers. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. In all, Salmonella was isolated from 14 (3.5%) cloacal swabs. All 14 isolates possessed invA and stn genes. The Salmonella isolates showed resistance to tetracycline (100%), doxycycline (100%), ampicillin (100%), sulphamethoxazole (92.9%), nalidixic acid (85.8%), ceftazidime (78.6%), neomycin (64.3%), streptomycin (50%) and gentamycin (28.6%) but all the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin. The isolates were resistant to at least three antimicrobials indicating multidrug resistance. The results concluded that Japanese quails harbour multidrug-resistant Salmonella which could be transmitted to humans through consumption of contaminated food or by direct and indirect contact with the carrier birds. Antimicrobial resistance could be due to overdependence on antimicrobials. Ciprofloxacin could be considered in the treatment of zoonotic Salmonellosis in humans.

Comparison of sampling methods to detect Salmonella infection of turkey flocks

AIMS

To compare the efficiency of various sampling methods for detection of Salmonella in turkey flocks.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In a field study that compared various sampling methods one pair of boot swabs taken from the whole turkey house provided suitably sensitive results for fattening and rearing flocks and was no less sensitive than two pairs, each from half the house, tested as a pooled sample. The sensitivity was further enhanced by adding a dust sample. The dust sample appeared to be particularly useful in flocks with a low prevalence, especially in breeding flocks, and was more sensitive than a method which used five pairs of boot swabs per flock. Combined incubation of a boot swab and a dust sample showed no interference between the two sample types and a maximum sensitivity of detection. Litter samples and commercial sponge drag swabs provided a lower level of detection.

CONCLUSIONS

A single pair of boot swabs taken from the whole house is recommended for routine sampling of commercial rearing or fattening flocks. An additional dust sample could be added to increase detection in flocks with a low prevalence or in breeding flocks, but adding an additional pair of boot swabs would not increase detection compared with a single pair.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This study demonstrates that significant efficiencies can be made in sampling programmes for detection of Salmonella in turkey flocks without detracting from the sensitivity. Similar studies are recommended for other poultry sectors, particularly in chicken breeding flocks.

Use of secondary enrichment for isolation of Salmonella from naturally contaminated environmental samples

Since the implementation of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), the need for on-farm food safety risk assessment and management has greatly increased. In order to provide accurate risk assessments, attention should be focused on better characterization of the Salmonella isolation and identification techniques. In this work, we compared the isolation ability of 4 Salmonella-specific protocols: immunomagnetic separation (DB), tetrathionate (TT) broth, Rappaport-Vassiliadis R10 (RV) broth, and a secondary enrichment (TR) procedure as well as 2 selective solid media (brilliant green agar, BG; and xylose-lysine tergitol 4, XLT4). All 4 methods were compared in litter and drag swab samples that were collected weekly during the broiler grow out period in 7 houses. There were 65/126 (51.6%) pooled litter samples positive and 115/304 (37.8%) drag swab samples positive for Salmonella by at least one method. Of the 65 positive litter samples, DB, RV, and TT isolated 1 (2.7%), 31 (47.7%), and 23 (35.4%) of the samples as positive when using BG agar, respectively. The TR protocol identified 83.1% (54/65) of the positive samples as positive when using BG agar. In the drag swab samples, DB did not identify any samples as positive, whereas TT and RV found 28 (25.7%) and 26 (23.9%) of the 109 samples to be positive when using BG agar, respectively. Again, the TR protocol identified the highest percentage of positive samples (94.5%). An analysis of agreement, kappa, revealed that TT and RV did not always agree on which samples were positive, although the number of samples identified as positive by both were not different. A comparison between the 2 agar plates used, BG and XLT4, showed that they had high agreement when the secondary enrichment protocol was used, but agreement was only moderate to low when the other 3 methods were used.

Comparison of Four Salmonella Isolation Techniques in Four Different Inoculated Matrices

The poultry industry is now operating under increased regulatory pressure following the introduction of the pathogen reduction and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) rule in 1996. This new operation scheme has greatly increased the need for on-farm food safety risk management of foodborne bacteria, such as Salmonella. Information needed to make informed food safety risk management decisions must be obtained from accurate risk assessments, which rely on the sensitivity of the isolation techniques used to identify Salmonella in the production environment. Therefore, better characterization of the Salmonella isolation and identification techniques is warranted. One new technique, immunomagnetic separation (IMS), may offer a benefit to the poultry industry, as it has been shown to be efficacious in the isolation of Salmonella from various sample matrices, including some poultry products. In this work, we compared the isolation ability of 4 Salmonella-specific protocols: IMS, tetrathionate (TT) broth, Rappaport-Vassiliadis R10 (RV) broth, and a secondary enrichment (TR) procedure. All 4 methods were compared in 4 different spiked sample matrices: Butterfield's, poultry litter, broiler crops, and carcass rinses. IMS was able to detect Salmonella at 3.66, 2.09, 3.06, and 3.97 log10 cfu/mL in Butterfield's, poultry litter, carcass rinse, and broiler crop matrices, respectively. For the broiler litter and Butterfield's solution, there were no (P > 0.05) differences among the 4 isolation protocols. However, in the carcass rinse and crop samples, there were no differences among the isolation of Salmonella using RV, TR, or TT, but all 3 were (P < or = 0.05) more successful at recovering Salmonella than the IMS method.

Update on media for isolation of Enterobacteriaceae from foods

Testing for 'total' Enterobacteriaceae, coliforms and Escherichia coli as marker organisms in foods and detection of specific pathogens of the family Enterobacteriaceae, including pathogenic E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Yersinia spp. is widely applied in many food control laboratories. This review describes some recent developments in culture media for these organisms. Methods for enumeration of E. coli include the standard MPN technique, a membrane-filter method and the use of media containing chromogenic and fluorogenic indicators for beta-D-glucuronidase (GUD) activity. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157 strains usually do not ferment sorbitol and are GUD-negative. These characteristics are used in selective media for these organisms, such as cefixime tellurite sorbitol MacConkey agar. For the detection of salmonellae, motility enrichment in Modified Semisolid Rappaport-Vassiliadis (MSRV) medium shows equal or better results than the use of standard Rappaport-Vassiliadis broth. Addition of nitrofurantoin to diagnostic semisolid salmonella agar and to xylose lysine desoxycholate agar favours the isolation of S. enteritidis. Recently developed salmonella media use different selective and diagnostic properties, such as acid formation from propylene glycol, glucuronate fermentation, fermentation of glycerol and addition of Tergitol 4 as selective agent. The isolation of Shigella spp. from foods is rather difficult and further evaluation of suggested isolation systems and the development of more effective methods for the isolation of this pathogen are needed. Yersinia enterocolitica includes both pathogenic and nonpathogenic biotypes and serogroups. As no single procedure will recover all pathogenic strains of Y. enterocolitica, the use of two isolation procedures in parallel is recommended.

Bacteriological and serological investigation of persistent Salmonella enteritidis infection in an integrated poultry organisation

Bacteriological monitoring of broiler breeder farms, the hatchery, rendering plant and animal feed mill during 1991 identified a number of potential cross-contamination hazards, such as the use of processed poultry proteins in the company feed mill and contamination of egg trolleys and trays, which may have led to widespread dissemination of Salmonella enteritidis within an integrated poultry organisation. Serological monitoring of the flocks suggested that, in most cases, substantial exposure to S. enteritidis infection occurred during the mid-rearing stage whereas routine bacteriological monitoring of poultry house litter and dust samples, and meconium samples taken in the hatchery identified infection only after the onset of the laying period. At least 10 phage types and six plasmid profile types of S. enteritidis were identified in historic submissions from the organisation including one apparently specific plasmid profile type that was distributed throughout the various parts of the company. During sampling for this investigation, most of these strains were not identified, and the number of plasmid profile types was reduced to a single common UK type.

Persistence of Salmonella enteritidis in poultry units and poultry food

1. Studies on the survival of Salmonella enteritidis in poultry units and food were carried out over a two-year period. 2. The organism persisted for at least one year in an empty trial house at the laboratory in which naturally-infected broiler breeder birds had previously been housed. A similar survival period was seen in a building which had housed an infected layer breeder flock, although infection was not detected in a subsequent pullet flock. 3. Salmonella enteritidis was also frequently found surviving outside poultry houses in small pockets of litter and fan dust which had been left after cleansing and disinfection of the site. On some poultry units S. enteritidis was also found in wild bird droppings. 4. Salmonella contamination appeared to persist preferentially in association with dust particles swept from the floor and in food troughs and S. enteritidis survived at least 26 months in artificially contaminated poultry food.

Determination of an effective sampling regime to detect salmonella enteritidis in the environment of poultry units

A study of the dissemination of Salmonella enteritidis in the poultry breeder industry in the UK showed that the choice of sites for sampling the environment of occupied houses and empty houses which had been disinfected after depopulation had a significant influence on the outcome. Increased isolation rates could be achieved by sampling nest box floors and dust in open slave feed hoppers in occupied poultry houses. Nest box floors were the most sensitive sites for detection of residual environmental contamination in poultry houses where enrofloxacin treatment had been used. Floor sweepings, nest box floors, slave feed hoppers, hydrated wall fabric junctions and high beams and pipes were the most sensitive sample sites in cleansed and disinfected poultry houses. The use of universal disinfectant neutralisers gave good results in laboratory trials but appeared to reduce the isolation rate from field samples.

Seasonal variations in the isolation of Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella enteritidis, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens from environmental samples

Calf carcasses contaminated with S. typhimurium, B. cereus and Cl. Perfringens were placed in either a decomposition pit or in a deep burial pit. Salmonella was isolated from the soil around the decomposition pit for 27 weeks and for 15 weeks around the burial site. Salmonella re-appeared in soil samples during cold winter weather after an apparent 9-week absence from the decomposition pit and after 68 weeks in the burial site (a total of 88 weeks after the start of the experiment). There was also an annual rise in the isolation rate of B. cereus from the soil during the colder winter months, but Cl. perfringens appeared to be more prevalent in samples taken during spring of the second year of the study. A similar apparent rise in the prevalence of S. enteritidis during a cold winter period occurred in an empty poultry house that had previously held a naturally infected broiler-breeder flock.

Development and evaluation of a simple, one-step salmonella isolation test

A one-step test unit was developed which allowed migration of salmonellas to selective medium and indicated the presence of salmonella by motility inhibition using polyvalent flagella antiserum. Evaluation of the method using 1038 naturally contaminated samples led to identification of more contaminated samples than a standard method within 24 h as opposed to 96 h.