Abstract
Salmonella is a major foodborne pathogen that causes foodborne disease in humans through consumption of contaminated foods, especially those of animal origin. Multiple Salmonella strains are antibiotic-resistant due to the common use of antibiotics in farm animals, including broiler farms. In this study, an alternative strategy using phage-based treatment was evaluated against Salmonella isolated from the broiler production. The prevalence of Salmonella spp. showed up to 46.2 and 44.4% in bedding samples from the broiler farms located in eastern and southern Thailand, respectively. Overall, 21 samples (36.2%) were positive for Salmonella and eight serovars were recovered from cloacal swabs, bedding materials (rice husk), and boot swabs collected from five farms. Up to 20 Salmonella phages were isolated from seven water samples from wastewater treatment ponds, a river, and a natural reservoir in Songkhla province. Isolated phages were investigated, as well as their lysis ability on eight target Salmonella serovars derived from broiler farms, five foodborne outbreak-related serovars, and 10 multidrug-resistant (MDR) serovars. All phages showed a strong lytic ability against five serovars of Salmonella derived from broiler farms including Kentucky, Saintpaul, Schwarzengrund, Corvalis, and Typhimurium; three foodborne outbreak serovars including Enteritidis, Typhimurium, and Virchow; and eight MDR serovars including Agona, Albany, Give, Kentucky, Typhimurium, Schwarzengrund, Singapore, and Weltevreden. Three phages with the highest lysis potential including vB_SenS_WP109, vB_SenS_WP110, and vB_SenP_WP128 were selected for a phage cocktail preparation. Overall, a phage cocktail could reduce Salmonella counts by 2.2–2.8 log units at 6 h of treatment. Moreover, Salmonella did not develop a resistant pattern after being treated with a phage cocktail. Findings here suggest that a phage cocktail is an effective biocontrol to combat Salmonella derived from broiler production chain, other serovars linked to foodborne outbreaks, and MDR serovars.
Highlights
Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne infections worldwide caused by consumption of contaminated foods with Salmonella spp. and becoming an important public health concern (Eng et al, 2015)
Salmonella spp. were detected in 46.2 and 28.1% of samples collected from two broiler farms in eastern Thailand and three broiler farms in southern Thailand, respectively (Table 1)
Multiple Salmonella serovars have been prevalent in broiler farms from eastern and southern Thailand
Summary
Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne infections worldwide caused by consumption of contaminated foods with Salmonella spp. and becoming an important public health concern (Eng et al, 2015). Poultry meat and its products have served as major sources of Salmonella spp., which have caused human and animal diseases as well as economic losses to the poultry industry (Barbour et al, 2015). Antimicrobial agents are widely used for growth promotion or treatment purposes (World Health Organization (WHO), 2018), which can lead to the occurrence of antimicrobialresistant strains in broilers and broiler meat. These will link to a potential source for transmission to human since antibioticresistant Salmonella isolated at the farm level may spread to humans through direct contact or contaminated meat (Dolejska et al, 2013). To decrease the risk factors that are related to Salmonella contamination in poultry meat production, the steps of Salmonella elimination from poultry cultivation to processing and handling (from farm to table) are necessary (Vandeplas et al, 2010; Alum et al, 2016)
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