Survey of Market Poultry for <i>Salmonella</i> Infection

Abstract

Poultry products were the source of infection in 16 per cent of the salmonellosis and 27 per cent of the gastroenteritis of unknown etiology reported to the National Office of Vital Statistics in 1958 (Dauer and Davids, 1959).Those authors pointed out that "since only a fraction of the outbreaks caused by staphylococci and salmonellae and other organisms appear to be reported, the real extent of the foodborne diseases is unknown."The accepted role of poultry in the epidemiology of human salmonellosis is evidenced by the statements of Edwards, Bruner, and Moran (1948) that fowls are the greatest reservoir of Salmonella in this country and that a high incidence of a given type of Salmonella in a certain locality is accompanied by a high incidence of the same type in man.Frequent occurrence of Salmonella on carcasses and equipment in chicken and turkey processing plants has been adequately demonstrated by such studies as those of Browne (1949), Schneider and Gunderson (1949), Gunderson, McFadden, and Kyle (1954), and Galton et al. (1955).Isolation of this organism from carcasses in retail stores has been reported by Felsen- feld, Young, and Yoshimura (1950).Walker and Ayers (1956), however, were unable to isolate Salmonella from outer skin and body cavity surfaces.They agreed with Gunderson et al. (1954) that the most probable sources of these organisms are the viscera and intestinal contents.Browne (1949) demonstrated that infected birds grossly contaminated the environment during processing, with resultant contamination of carcasses.The methods of most investigators have not been critical enough to identify the source of Salmonella on equipment or carcasses-whether from human carriers,