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Research to develop salmonella-free poultry internally focused
Story Date: 3/21/2013
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Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 3/20/13
Scientists at North Carolina State University are taking a new approach to try and eradicate salmonella in poultry using modified bacteria that already live in the intestines of chickens.
Microbiologist Hosni Hassan and poultry science assistant professor Matt Koci are using a $2.5-million USDA grant to identify and expand the presence of microbiomes that populate animal intestines, including viruses, bacteria and fungi.
The goal of the five-year project is to encourage the presence of bacteria that can exclude salmonella and reduce the risk that poultry and raw eggs pass along salmonella to humans. An estimated 42,000 cases of salmonella infection are reported annually in the United States with about 400 of those infected dying from the infection.
The current research is an extension of earlier work by the two scientists that resulted in a potential salmonella vaccine for chickens originally discovered in 2007. The goal is to create a combination of treatments using the vaccine and the microbiomes to lower the number of salmonella infections in the poultry as well as in humans that consume chickens and raw eggs.
Hassan and Koci plan to open the research process to schoolchildren as well as members of North Carolina 4-H to ultimately teach young people across the nation about research techniques and programs to improve food safety. The effort includes bringing local teachers and 4H professionals into the labs this summer to develop a curricula so procedures regarding disease prevention and immunization can be taught in classrooms within the next three years.
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