INCIDENCE OF SALMONELLAE IN DRESSED BROILER-FRYER CHICKENS.

Salmonellae were isolated from 72 of 264 broiler-fryer type chickens that had been purchased in retail stores in the Lafayette, Ind., area in 1963. Meat from the tail area and giblet portions were used in sampling. Equal numbers of dressed whole and cut-up birds were positive for salmonellae. Thirteen different serotypes were identified, the more common being Salmonella infantis, S. reading, and S. blockley. Incubation at 43 C of the blended sample in Selenite-F Enrichment broth containing cystine gave a larger number of recoveries than did incubation at 37 C. There was no significant difference between the means for the birds that yielded salmonellae and those that did not in the locally processed group, when compared for numbers of aerobic microorganisms at 37 C, coliforms, or most probable number of enterococci. In a comparison of poultry processed in-state by the five processors included in the study with that processed out-of-state, there was a general trend for a larger number of positive specimens in the locally produced group. The fall season was an exception.