D elmarva M eeting H ighlights
Latest in Research
By Dr. Simon M. Shane The implication for egg producers is and technology, USDA-APHIS. The
that any outbreak of SE which involves concept, now accepted by OIE, allows
Editor’s note: The following research 10 or more cases, constituting a clus- regulators to designate a specific com-
reports are from the 42nd National Meet- ter in any of the states participating in pany or complex as being free of AI or
ing on Poultry Health and Processing the FoodNet program, will be identified some other notifiable disease subject
held in Ocean City, Md. Although this and trace back to farms of origin will to acceptable biosecurity procedures.
annual meeting concentrates on broiler be inevitable. The implication of iden- The compartmentalization programs,
production with an emphasis on the tifying and elimination of any foci of which must be approved in advance of
Delmarva Peninsula, information was SE is obvious. Outbreaks attributed to a disease outbreak, will include the def-
presented which has direct importance a complex or integrator will result in inition of a compartment, proof of epi-
to egg production. tort claims and action by state agencies demiologic separation from high risk
Anatomy of a Foodborne and ultimately the FDA when proposed zones, full documentation of activities Illness Outbreak regulations are promulgated. and ongoing surveillance for designated Predictive Microbiology diseases including diagnostic capability Dr. Jurgen Schwarz of the University Information Portal and emergency response plans. of Maryland Eastern Shore outlined the With increasing prevalence of H7N2,
role of PulseNet in identifying clusters The Microbial Food Safety Research low pathogenic AI in the live bird mar-of foodborne infection with specific unit of the Eastern Regional Research ket and possibly in backyard flocks, the
emphasis on E coli infection and sal- Center, USDA-ARS, located in Wynd- probability of entire regions being af-monellosis. Laboratories affiliated with moor, Pa., functions as an interdiscipli- fected by LPAI should be considered
PulseNet are equipped to apply a sensi- nary team of scientists. The laboratory in relation to maintaining the output
tive analytical technique, Pulsed Field cooperates with commercial entities, and interstate movement of product.
Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), to char- universities and research institutes in For instance, a diagnosis of H7N2 on
acterize specific isolates of foodborne the United States and six foreign coun- a farm operated by a contractor sup-
➤ Avian Influenza has the potential to disrupt production in the United States and
to curtail availability of eggs on domestic and export markets.
pathogens. This is used by public health
investigators and the CDC to establish
epidemiologic relationships between
sources of contaminated food and the
isolates derived from individual patients
involved in outbreaks. FoodNet, which
is an active surveillance system, now incorporates 15 percent of the U.S. population with participation by state laboratories in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon,
Tennessee and large urban counties in
California, Colorado and New York. Dr.
Schwarz outlined the actions involved
in detection and characterization of the
Listeria outbreak attributed to processed
turkey meat emanating from plants in
Michigan in 1998 and Pennsylvania and
New Jersey in 2002.
tries to investigate technology to prevent foodborne infection. The research
interests of the affiliated scientists include Salmonella, Listeria and E coli,
in relation to food products. The institute has obvious expertise in food safety centering on the molecular biology
of food borne pathogens and extending
to microbial modeling and pilot scale
validation of commercial interventions
to limit food borne infection.
Compartmentalization
Avian influenza (AI) has the potential to disrupt production in the United
States and to curtail availability of eggs
on domestic and export markets. Compartmentalization was reviewed by Dr.
T.J. Myers, deputy director for science
plying eggs from non-confined flocks
would most probably involve blanket
quarantine over a multi-county area in
California or Ohio, where a high density of hens in proximity to other avian
species exist. If producers comply with
the principles of compartmentalization,
the highly restrictive quarantines and
restrictions required under geographic
“zoning” would be avoided.
Laryngotracheitis
ILT persists as a widespread infection which depresses performance in
broiler flocks. Invariably, all U.S. layer
flocks are vaccinated (but not necessarily immunized) against ILT using tissue
culture origin vaccines administered by
eyedrop during the early and mid-rear-
