Prevalence of Salmonella in poultry processing environments in wet markets in Penang and Perlis, Malaysia

Abstract

The most carcass contact and environmental samples collected along the wet market chicken processing line were consistently contaminated with <i>Salmonella</i>. This indicates that <i>Salmonella</i> has established itself in poultry processing environments by colonizing the surfaces of the equipment and survives in these environments by establishing biofilms. Our results highlight the need of implementing strict hygiene and sanitation standards to reduce the incidence of <i>Salmonella</i>. The prevalence of <i>Salmonella</i> in poultry can be reduced effectively by identifying and eliminating the sources and contamination sites during slaughter and processing of poultry.