ABSTRACT
Nde et al. (2007) reported that no study has examined the relationship between Salmonella subtypes isolated before and after defeathering. Molecular typing is increasingly being used to complement conventional methodologies to elucidate bacterial transmission routes (De Cesare et al., 2001; Sander et al., 2001). Several studies have used molecular typing to understand the transmission of Salmonella within poultry production (De Cesare et al., 2001; Bailey et al., 2002; Liebana et al., 2002; Crespo et al., 2004). Nde et al. (2007) sampled the breast feathers of turkeys before defeathering and the exposed breast skin of carcasses after defeathering to determine the extent of cross contamination occurring during defeathering. Serotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were used to more specifically determine the relationship between Salmonella isolates obtained preand post-defeathering. Figure 15.2 shows the prevalence of Salmonella on turkeys before and after feathering.
