Salmonella genotyping helps identify contamination source

A new approach to Salmonella typing can detect the source of contamination in the poultry value chain and reduce the incidence of the foodborne pathogen.

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Monika Wisniewska | Dreamstime.com
Monika Wisniewska | Dreamstime.com

A new approach to Salmonella typing can detect the source of contamination in the poultry value chain and reduce the incidence of the foodborne pathogen.

Salmonella can come from various sources. It can come from feed. It can come from the hatchery. It can come from parents or grandparents. It can have its source in the broiler houses,” explained Pieter Vos, Managing Director, Check-Points.

“If you start sampling in the chain, you can see that you can even find a number of different types throughout the chain. So therefore, it’s really important that an intelligent approach is used to get rid of Salmonella in the end product.”

Salmonella is one of the most common causes of foodborne illnesses in people. With over 2,600 known serotypes, however the individual serotype can be difficult to identify.

“If you look at the sources of outbreaks, most of the time that’s due to Salmonella,” he added. “Most strains of Salmonella are actually quite harmless. You do not usually get sick from them and if you do, you will just feel bad for a few days and that’s it. But there are a few types which are quite virulent and are often also a bit more difficult to treat with antibiotics.”

Genetic barcodes

“Traditionally, typing on Salmonella is done with an immunological serological method, called the Kaufmann White method,” Vos said, noting that this approach can be complex, time-consuming, and difficult to perform.

The typing method creates a genetic fingerprint using DNA markers that can be used to decode the Salmonella type. It can successfully discriminate between more than 300 serotypes, including Typhimurium, in less than one day.

“This approach uses genetic typing with a microarray-based method, or genetic barcodes. We have a huge database where we link genetic barcodes to traditionally known serotypes,” said Vos.

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