ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2023 37 When looking at poultry, S. enteritidis was found in 59% of the cases. The second most detected serovar, S. infantis, was found in less than 10% of the cases, and S. typhimurium was found in around 5% of the cases, and the other serovars reached percentages between 1.5% and 4.4%. HOW TO CONTROL SALMONELLA IN YOUR BIRDS? When you look at the above numbers, you can clearly see that there is a strong need to control Salmonella in your birds. For poultry producers, the first aim is to prevent the Salmonella bacteria from entering their operations. When present, the aim is to prevent Salmonella from entering the food chain via the eggs or the meat they produce. The successful control of Salmonella infection in your birds starts at the hatchery and farm level! Strict sanitary measures need to be taken so that hatching eggs, day-old chicks, feed, water, litter, the barns or rodents are not the source of a Salmonella infection. Environmental sampling has been proven to be a highly effective tool in detecting Salmonella and to be used for the verification of your cleaning and disinfection. It is highly recommended that you have a proper working biosecurity program in place, one that has been adjusted to the environmental, regional and organisational conditions of your operations. A well-defined and structured biosecurity plan is needed so that the daily routines are steered in a comprehensive way. Often biosecurity is considered an additional expense, but we, as a breeding organisation, are more than able to see that it pays off fully! Not only for the general health of your birds, but also for the health and, especially in the case of Salmonella, the safety of the consumers. Below we list the most important strategies that should be implemented to prevent the spread of Salmonella. HYGIENE AND DISINFECTION This is the most obvious strategy, but easy to miss. All buildings and equipment must be cleaned and disinfected before the new flock arrives. The effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection should be checked via environmental sampling. Intensive cleaning and disinfection are needed when the previous flock is found to be Salmonella positive! The aim of cleaning and disinfection is to cut the circulating infection chain after depopulation of the farms if you make use of the ‘all-in, all-out’ principle.
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