Salmonella load drastically reduced in organic chicken

According to a study in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, salmonella prevalences in fecal samples were 5.6% and 38.8% from organic and conventional farms, respectively. From feed, 5.0% and 27.5% of the samples were positive for Salmonella from organic and conventional farms, respectively. The two most common resistance phenotypes were single resistance to streptomycin (36.2%: conventional; 25% organic), and multidrug resistance to six antimicrobial agents: ampicillin-streptomycin-amoxicillin/clavulanic acid-cephalothin-ceftiofur-cefoxitin (39.7%: conventional only). The results of the study suggest that within this poultry company, the prevalence of fecal Salmonella was lower in certified-organic birds than in conventionally raised birds, and the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella was also higher in conventionally raised birds than in certified-organic birds.