The use of Roller Swabs for Salmonella Detection in Poultry Litter

SUMMARY Litter sampling is utilized as a non-invasive and practical method to determine broiler flock Salmonella status. The common methods include boot cover/sock (BC), drag swab (DS), or litter grab sampling (LG). Roller swabs are a new research method that can be used to sample litter without entering research pens. This study aimed to assess the use of roller swabs (RS) for Salmonella (S) detection in comparison to BC, DS, and LG. For Experiment 1, litter was sampled for two weeks following a broiler flock that was challenged at 6 days of age with 1 × 107cfu of a nalidixic acid resistant strain of Salmonella Enteritidis to establish a high litter prevalence of S. In Experiment 2, sampling occurred after a subsequent flock was raised on the same litter. In Experiment 1, S was detected by RS less frequently (81%) than DS (95%), BC (97%), and LG (98%) (P