Prevalence of Salmonella enterica in poultry processing lines of central Kerala

Abstract

Salmonella enterica is the most pathogenic species frequently responsible for foodborne Salmonella infections in humans. Occurrence of Salmonella enterica in poultry processing lines is a potential risk for the contamination of poultry meat and processing environment. Crosscontamination of carcasses by Salmonella spp. during processing could pose food safety risks. Therefore, the present study involved the detection of Salmonella enterica in the poultry processing lines. The cloacal swabs, caecal contents and carcass rinsates of the birds were collected from processing lines of two processing plants one each from Thrissur and Ernakulam districts of Kerala. The Salmonella spp. were isolated by conventional culture technique on Xylose–lysine deoxycholate agar. The molecular confirmation of Salmonella spp. and S. enterica was carried out by targeting invA and iroB gene, respectively. Out of 450 samples analysed from both the processing lines, 14.22 per cent of the isolates were found to be positive for Salmonella spp. by PCR. The invA gene was detected in 67.19 per cent of the isolates and iroB genes was detected in 81.4 per cent of the Salmonella spp. isolates. Implementation of standard sanitation protocol and hygiene strategies is required to reduce cross-contamination of poultry carcasses.

Keywords

• salmonella spp.
• poultry processing line
• salmonella enterica
• cross-contamination