Prevalence of Salmonella spp. on broiler chicken carcasses and risk factors at the slaughterhouse in France in 2008

The prevalence of Salmonella spp. on broiler chicken carcasses and risk factors at the slaughterhouse were studied in 2008. A total of 425 carcasses were collected from 58 French poultry slaughterhouses over a 12-month period. Salmonella was isolated on 32 carcasses leading to a prevalence of 7.52% (CI95% = [5.01-10.05]). Thirteen different serotypes were identified. S. Indiana was the most prevalent serotype (33.3%) followed by S. Kottbus (13.9%); S. Enteritidis was isolated in only one batch (2.8%) and S. Typhimurium was not isolated on any sample. The enumeration performed on a subset of 219 samples using a miniaturized MPN technique, revealed very low numbers of Salmonella (1.6 and 110 cfu/g) in only 4 samples. The logistic regression analysis revealed 2 parameters as potential risk factors: (1) Gallus gallus as the sole species of poultry slaughtered in the slaughterhouse (OR = 7.08) and (2) less than 2 people present during evisceration (OR = 4.65).