Salmonella in Food Animal Production

Salmonella is responsible for an estimated 1.35 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, with 42.4% of cases linked to contaminated poultry, pork, and beef products. Different serovars have been isolated from these products, and many serovars display unique phenotypes in terms of antimicrobial resistance, human and animal illness, and host specificity. Salmonella dynamics differs vastly across different food production systems.

Broiler production and processing 

One-in-five human cases of salmonellosis can be directly attributed to the improper handling or consumption of contaminated poultry meat. Multiple projects in our lab are centered on understanding the ecology of Salmonella in poultry and most projects involve working directly with poultry companies. Projects are funded by the USDA-NIFA, USPEA, the UGA Center for Food Safety, and private industry. In a recently completed study, we were able to explain discordance between pre-and post-harvest serotyping within the context of multiserovar populations. 

On-going projects are longitudinal studies in breeder and broiler flocks to determine the incidence of multiserovar Salmonella populations and how they change across successive flocks. In a long-term surveillance study, we are using deep serotyping information to develop predictive models to identify serovars that are becoming established in poultry.

At processing, we are interested in determining which Salmonella serovars are able to persist through multiple interventions. This enables us to assess the efficacy of different intervention steps and identify whether there are serovar-to-serovar differences.

Relevant papers:

Cason et al. (2025). Sampling method influences Salmonella detection and quantification in pre-harvest commercial broiler production. Poultry science. 104(5):104963.
Siceloff et al. (2022) Regional Salmonella differences in United States broiler production from 2016 to 2020 and the contribution of multiserovar populations to Salmonella surveillance. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 88(8):e00204-22.
Rasamsetti et al. (2022) Assessing Salmonella prevalence and complexity through processing using different culture methods. Poultry Science. 101(7):101949.
Surendra Rasamsetti and Nikki W. Shariat (2023) Biomapping Salmonella serovar complexity in broiler carcasses and parts during processing. Food Microbiology. 110:104149.
Obe et al. (2023) Combined quantification and deep serotyping for Salmonella risk profiling in broiler flocks. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 89(4):e02035-22.

Turkey production

In a USPE-funded study, we have been assessing Salmonella serovars through the turkey supply chain from pre-harvest through multiple antimicrobial interventions at processing and in different product types.

Cason et al. (2025). Sampling method influences Salmonella detection and quantification in pre-harvest commercial broiler production. Poultry science. 104(5):104963.

Salmonella in beef production

Contaminated beef products are also a source of Salmonella. On-going work in our lab that is funded by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association/Beef CheckOff includes pre- and post-harvest studies to assess Salmonella serovar dynamics in beef production. Understanding environmental persistence and survival of different serovars through production is important to developing effective mitigation strategies.