Susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from fish feed factories to disinfectants and air-drying at surfaces.

The objective of this work was to determine whether persistence of certain Salmonella isolates in fish feed factories involved enhanced resistance to disinfectants or air-drying. Salmonella isolates known to be persistent in fish feed factories and Salmonella isolates from other origins were tested for their sensitivity to nine disinfectants by using a suspension test. More than 5log(10)reduction in viable count for all isolates was only achieved by two of the disinfectants at 80% of the lowest recommended user concentration. However, Salmonella isolates from fish feed factories were not more resistant to disinfectants compared to Salmonella from other origins. For four of the disinfectants, presence of fish feed had a more adverse effect on disinfection efficacy compared to the protein bovine serum albumin (BSA). In general, the Salmonella isolates were more resistant to disinfection than Escherichia coli DSM 682, a strain recommended in testing of disinfectants. The Salmonella isolates were also tested for their ability to survive air-drying at stainless steel surfaces, but there were no differences in survival of isolates from fish feed factories compared to isolates of other origin. In conclusion the Salmonella isolates from fish feed factories were not particularly resistant to disinfection or air-drying at surfaces. The data show that disinfectants to be used against Salmonella should be thoroughly tested and selected, since not all disinfectants appear to be effective against Salmonella.