Ability of Bacteriophages Isolated from Different Sources to Reduce Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis In Vitro and In Vivo

• Published in: Poultry science 2007-09, Vol.86 (9), p.1904-1909
• Main Authors: Andreatti Filho, R.L, Higgins, J.P, Higgins, S.E, Gaona, G, Wolfenden, A.D, Tellez, G, Hargis, B.M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Feed; animal pathogens; Animals; application methods; bacteriophages; broiler chickens; cecum; Chickens - microbiology; chicks; cloaca; Cloaca - virology; disease control; food pathogens; in vitro studies; microbial colonization; plate count; poultry manure; Probiotics; Salmonella; Salmonella enteritidis; Salmonella enteritidis - isolation & purification; Salmonella enteritidis - physiology; Salmonella enteritidis - virology; Salmonella Phages - isolation & purification; Salmonella Phages - physiology; salmonellosis; sewage; strain differences; strains; temporal variation; Waste Disposal, Fluid
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.1093/ps/86.9.1904

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis-lysing bacteriophages isolated from poultry or human sewage sources were used to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in vitro and in experimentally infected chicks. Cocktails of 4 different bacteriophages obtained from commercial broiler houses (CB4Ø) and 45 bacteriophages from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WT45Ø) were evaluated. In experiment 1, an in vitro crop assay was conducted with selected bacteriophage concentrations (10⁵ to 10⁹ pfu/mL) to determine ability to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in the simulated crop environment. Following 2 h at 37°C, CB4Ø or WT45Ø reduced Salmonella Enteritidis recovery by 1.5 or 5 log, respectively, as compared with control. However, CB4Ø did not affect total SE recovery after 6 h, whereas WT45Ø resulted in up to a 6-log reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis. In experiment 2, day-of-hatch chicks were challenged orally with 3 x 10³ cfu/chick Salmonella Enteritidis and treated cloacally with 1 x 10⁹ WT45Ø pfu/chick 1 h postchallenge. One hour later, chicks were treated or not with a commercially available probiotic (Floramax-B11). Both treatments significantly reduced Salmonella Enteritidis recovery from cecal tonsils at 24 h following vent lip application as compared with controls, but no additive effect was observed with the combination of bacteriophages and probiotic. In experiment 3, day-of-hatch chicks were challenged orally with 9 x 10³ cfu/chick Salmonella Enteritidis and treated via oral gavage with 1 x 10⁸ CB4Ø pfu/chick, 1.2 x 10⁸ WT45Ø pfu/chick, or a combination of both, 1 h postchallenge. All treatments significantly reduced Salmonella Enteritidis recovered from cecal tonsils at 24 h as compared with untreated controls, but no significant differences were observed at 48 h following treatment. These data suggest that some bacteriophages can be efficacious in reducing SE colonization in poultry during a short period, but with the bacteriophages and methods presently tested, persistent reductions were not observed.