Environmental Survey by Manure Drag Sampling for Salmonella enteritidis in Chicken Layer Houses

The Salmonella enteritidis Pilot Project (SEPP) was started in April 1992 as a cooperative effort between federal and state agencies, university laboratories, and the poultry industry in Pennsylvania to identify on-farm management practices which would reduce the S. enteritidis threat to public health. The SEPP evolved into the Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program (PEQAP) in 1994. This program uses many production practices and testing protocols outlined in the SEPP. A survey was conducted in 1995 to help evaluate the effectiveness of the program in reducing the prevalence of S. enteritidis in layer flocks. Forty-seven egg laying houses that had been in the SEPP since 1992 were evaluated in 1995 for the presence of S. enteritidis in the environment. Six of 47 houses (13%) were found positive for S. enteritidis on the basis of data collected by manure drag sampling, whereas in 1992 18 of the 47 houses (38%) had been positive for S. enteritidis . The percentage of S. enteritidis -positive samples declined from 21% in 1992 to 3.2% in 1995. This survey provides some evidence that the on-farm risk-reduction management practices identified in the SEPP and subsequently incorporated into the PEQAP have reduced S. enteritidis infections in Pennsylvania flocks.