On Farm Control of Salmonella On Farm Control of Salmonella Food quality and safety have been becoming focal points in food production and pork is no exception. Foodborne diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria are making headlines and increasingly publicized. Salmonella infection due to contaminated food products is one of the major causes of human illness and responsible for substantial economic losses worldwide. Each year there are millions of people infected with Salmonella through contaminated food products and thousands of them died from the disease. In the U.S. alone the annual economic costs of human illness due to Salmonella infections are 2.3 billions.
Salmonella are bacteria, which exist everywhere in the environment.
Attempting to unravel the epidemiology of Salmonella infection in both humans and animals continues to provide employment for many health professionals. There is little to suggest that a 'magic bullet' is on the horizon. To date, more than 2,300 Salmonella serotypes have been identified and most of them are not harmful to human. S. typhimurium DT104 is the one that poses the most threat to human health. It is believed that complete exclusion of pathogenic Salmonella from animal populations is neither realistic nor possible.