The Salmonella Problem: Current Status and Future Direction

Abstract

Human salmonellosis continues to be an important public health problem. Consumer mishandling of poultry, meat and dairy products is the most frequent cause of outbreaks. Attempts to educate consumers in proper food handling practices have had disappointing results. Denmark has an intensive program directed towards students in the 7, 8, 9 and 10th grades. Canada is contemplating a similar program for students at the high school level. Similar efforts do not exist in the U.S. Contaminated animal feed continues to be an important source of infection to livestock. The recent rise in the importance of Salmonella agona and Salmonella hadar illustrates again the important chain leading from feed contamination to livestock infection to human infection. Scandinavian countries have intensive programs directed toward control of Salmonella in domestic meat animals. Indications are that this has decreased the incidence of Salmonella in livestock and that concurrently there has been a decreased incidence of human salmonellosis in these countries. The Nurmi concept, involving oral administration of the gastrointestinal flora of adult birds into newly hatched chicks and poults, shows promise as a practical and economical approach to reducing the incidence of salmonellae in poultry.