Fiorentin, 2005 – Oral treatment with bacteriophages reduces the concentration of Salmonella Enteritidis PT4 in caecal contents of broilers

Bacteriophages isolated from free-range chickens were tested as a therapeutic agent for reducing the concentration of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis phage type 4 (S. Enteritidis PT4) in caeca of broilers. One-day-old broilers infected with S. Enteritidis PT4 by a seeder bird method were orally treated on the seventh day of age with a mixture of 1011 plaque-forming units of each of three bacteriophages. Five days after treatment the bacteriophage-treated group showed a reduction of 3.5 orders of magnitude on colonyforming units of S. Enteritidis PT4 per gram of caecal content. Samples collected at 10, 15, 20 and 25 days after treatment revealed that treated birds still had lower colony-forming units of S. Enteritidis PT4 per gram of caecal content. These data gave us compelling evidence that a mixture of bacteriophages may be efficacious in reducing S. Enteritidis PT4 concentration in broilers’ caeca and therefore reducing contamination of poultry products by this food-borne pathogen.