Reducing the carriage of foodborne pathogens in livestock and poultry

• Published in: Poultry science Vol. 85; no. 6; pp. 960 - 973
• Main Authors: Doyle, M P, Erickson, M C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01-06-2006
• Subjects: Animal Feed; Animals; Animals, Domestic - genetics; Animals, Domestic - microbiology; Anti-Bacterial Agents - administration & dosage; Bacterial Infections - prevention & control; Bacterial Infections - transmission; Bacterial Vaccines; Bacteriophages; Campylobacter; Disease Vectors; Escherichia coli; Feces - microbiology; Food Contamination - prevention & control; Food Microbiology; Housing, Animal; Immunity, Innate - genetics; Poultry - genetics; Poultry - microbiology; Salmonella; Selection, Genetic; Water Microbiology
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.1093/ps/85.6.960

Several foodborne pathogens, including Salmonella species and campylobacters, are common contaminants in poultry and livestock. Typically, these pathogens are carried in the animal's intestinal tract asymptomatically; however, they can be shed in feces in large populations and be transmitted by other vectors from feces to animals, produce, or humans. A wide array of interventions has been developed to reduce the carriage of foodborne pathogens in poultry and livestock, including genetic selection of animals resistant to colonization, treatments to prevent vertical transmission of enteric pathogens, sanitation practices to prevent contamination on the farm and during transportation, elimination of pathogens from feed and water, feed and water additives that create an adverse environment for colonization by the pathogen, and biological treatments that directly or indirectly inactivate the pathogen within the host. To successfully reduce the carriage of foodborne pathogens, it is likely that a combination of intervention strategies will be required.