Quantitative aspects of the Staphylococcus aureus flora of poultry

Important populations of Staphylococcus aureus were found to be present on the body surfaces of live poultry originating from flocks without history of staphylococcal disease. Their sized increased considerably until approximately the seventh week of life after which time they were maintained at equally high levels. Significant correlations were found between the populations recovered from superficial wash samples and skin-tissue samples. Similarly the numbers isolated from the nasal cavities were correlated with other surface counts. Low numbers were present in the intestinal tract. Birds with staphylococcal synovitis had higher numbers in all sampling regions. The counts were very high in subjects suffering from staphylococcal dermatitis. Higher rates of positive birds and higher numbers of staphylococci were detected with a whole body sampling method than with a nasal swab technique. The isolates obtained in this study belonged to the S. aureus biotype B which is associated with poultry and pigs.