Control of food-poisoning salmonella in poultry - biological options

The high cost of rearing pathogen-free poultry, coupled with increases in importation from non-European countries where hygienic measures may be less stringent indicates that biological approaches to control of infection with food-borne pathogens will continue to be important. The major measures are dealt with in this review, together with the positive and negative aspects of each of these approaches. They include antibiotic therapy and prophylaxis, competitive exclusion using intestinal flora preparations, live and killed vaccines and the increasing interest in exploiting natural genetic resistance to infection and disease.