Abstract #M271

# M271
Prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter from composite fecal samples on US dairy operations.
Charles P. Fossler1, Jason E. Lombard*1, Paula J. Fedorka-Cray2,3, Jodie R. Plumblee2, Christine A. Kopral1, R. Camilla Kristensen1, 1USDA:APHIS:VS: Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health, Fort Collins, CO, 2USDA:ARS:Bacterial Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Unit, Athens, GA, 3North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

During the National Animal Health Monitoring System’s Dairy 2014 study, 6 composite environmental fecal samples were collected from 234 operations for culture of Salmonella. On 232 of the 234 operations, these samples were also tested for Campylobacter. One objective of the study was to estimate the herd-level prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter on US dairy operations. Samples were collected from March through July 2014. Estimates incorporated weighting procedures and were adjusted for study design. Salmonella was identified via culture from at least one sample on 39.2% of operations. Operations with 500 or more cows were more likely to be Salmonella-positive compared with operations with 30–99 cows (62.0% vs. 26.0%). No regional differences were observed in the percentage of Salmonella-positive operations. The largest percentages of Salmonella-positive samples were from manure pits (39.9%) and common alleyways (38.2%), while the lowest percentage positive were from gutter cleaners (23.9%); however, these percentages were not statistically different. Statistically, the percentage of Salmonella-positive operations from the Dairy 2014 study (39.2%) was not different from the percentage of Salmonella-positive operations from the NAHMS Dairy 2007 study (35.8%). Campylobacter was identified in at least one sample from 88.5% of operations. There were no differences by herd size or by region in the percentage of operations testing Campylobacter-positive. Overall, 54.8% of samples from holding pen floors were Campylobacter-positive, followed by 54.3% of samples from common alleyways, 51.1% from parlor exits, 45.5% from gutter cleaners, and 42.6% from common pens, and these locations were more likely to be positive than samples from manure spreaders (19.1%) and flush water (14.0%). A high percentage of US dairy operations can be expected to have Campylobacter on the operation. Salmonella is not as common, with less than half of operations expected to be positive at a single sampling. The percentage of operations positive for Salmonella did not change between the Dairy 2007 and Dairy 2014 studies.

Key Words: Salmonella, Campylobacter, prevalence