Advances in Vaccines for Controlling Foodborne Salmonella spp. in Poultry

Salmonellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-negative enteric bacterium Salmonella. Many serotypes, collectively known as broad-host-range serovars, such as S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis, are not restricted to particular host species, and their epidemiology can therefore be complex. These serotypes do not cause severe symptoms in poultry, but the eggs and meat of infected animals can become a reservoir of infection for the human consumer. In particular, asymptomatic carriers have a major role in Salmonella propagation in poultry and hence in food contamination, since they cannot be easily identified and isolated. The intestinal carrier state of chickens infected with S. enterica is one of the main causes of disease propagation in poultry.