Prevalence of salmonellosis on modernized poultry laying farms in the department of Huila

Abstract

Food-borne infection by Salmonella is one of the most important causes of food poisoning in humans and animals. The reservoirs are asymptomatic carrier animals and sources of infection are foods or products derived from these.  The increase in incidence of Salmonella is of great impact on both public health and animal health, mainly due to the dissemination of microorganisms through the production chain of poultry farms. Globally, prevalence rates rise from 10 to 17% in humans and 25 to 55% in animals, including birds for fattening. The objective of this research is to identify the prevalence of salmonella in poultry laying farms, located in the rural area of the municipalities of Neiva, Rivera and Palermo. Birds with ages between 19 to 66 weeks wereincluded to carry out this cross-sectional study. Each poultry farm was characterized taking into consideration different aspects like: size, genetic line, age and weight. Biosecurity conditions were evaluated; then information was collected using checklist. To determine the prevalence of Salmonella, veterinarians took cloacal swabs to 372 birds. Two samples were taken; one for study and the other for bird control, which were taken to the Colombian Agricultural Institute laboratory for analysis. In the end it was not possible to detect Salmonella bacterium in the samples coming from the four poultry farms under study.