A team of researchers in UGA’s newly-formed Department of Population Health at the College of Veterinary Medicine has launched a study to determine how to eliminate salmonella bacteria from the poultry production process.
“What we’re trying to do is trace salmonella through the food chain, so we can identify at what point in the poultry industry we can introduce intervention measures most effectively,” says John Maurer, associate professor of population health and head of the research team. “Knowing where the salmonella comes from is important so that we can reduce its transmission to the final product that the consumer eats.”
Funded by an $890,000, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the research team, in addition to Maurer, includes Charles Hofacre, professor, population health; Michael P. Doyle, director, Center for Food Safety; and Dana Cole, medical epidemiologist, Georgia Division of Public Health.
The grant also will fund positions for several graduate students at the veterinary college who will handle the data analysis.”This research will become a landmark study that will provide the basic understanding of the spread of salmonella,” says John Glisson, head, population health. “This is an important indicator of the prominent role that UGA has taken in food safety research in this country.”
The problem is that in chickens and many other animals salmonella rarely causes illness. Adult chickens can be carriers of the bacteria and yet appear perfectly healthy.
“If we know that the majority of the contamination is going on in the breeder flocks, we can come up with intervention strategies to keep it from spreading to the offspring,” Maurer says. “If we know that it is acquired on the broiler farm then we know that we have to clean that farm and prevent reintroduction on that farm.”
Approximately 600 deaths are attributed to acute salmonella infection each year. More than 40,000 cases are reported each year, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of actual infections is much higher.