Second Survey of Market Poultry for Salmonella Infection

On 34 days over a period of 30 months, samplings were made of randomly selected birds slaughtered in randomly chosen processing plants. Methods were designed so that Salmonella and paracolon bacteria isolated were indigenous to the intestinal tract of the selected bird. Incidence rates were 5.25% for turkeys, 0.54% for chicken hens, and 1.05% for chicken fryers. Infected birds, providing the potential for contamination, were processed on 58% (turkeys), 25% (chicken hens), and 43% (chicken fryers) of the days. Combined data from the present and previous surveys represent a total of 9,851 carcasses sampled on 94 separate days over a 4.5-year period; these data provide a more accurate analysis of incidence rates and days that positive birds were being slaughtered. For turkeys, chicken hens, and chicken fryers, incidence rates were 4.16, 0.65, and 1.42%, respectively, and days positive were 56, 14, and 32%.