Diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus from the Upper Oconee Watershed, Georgia.

Aim: It is well-known that enterococci are abundant in the environment; however, the role of surface water as a reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant enterococci remains largely undefined. In this study, surface water samples were collected over a 2-year period from the Upper Oconee watershed, Athens, GA to examine enterococci and their antimicrobial resistance.

Methods And Results: Approximately 97% (445/458) of the samples were positive for enterococci and a total of 637 enterococci were isolated.

Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and genetic relatedness among enterococci isolated from dogs and cats in the United States.

Aims: In this study, mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and genetic relatedness among resistant enterococci from dogs and cats in the United States were determined.

Methods And Results: Enterococci resistant to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, lincomycin, quinupristin/dalfopristin and tetracycline were screened for the presence of 15 antimicrobial resistance genes. Five tetracycline resistance genes [tet(M), tet(O), tet(L), tet(S) and tet(U)] were detected with tet(M) accounting for approx.

Use of water spray and extended drying time to lower bacterial numbers on soiled flooring from broiler transport coops.

Broiler transport coops soiled with Campylobacter-positive feces have been shown to facilitate cross-contamination of broilers. Washing and sanitizing coop surfaces do not always effectively eliminate bacteria. The objective of this study was to examine drying as a means of lowering bacterial numbers on transport coop flooring.

Recovery of Campylobacter from broiler feces during extended storage of transport cages.

Feces deposited in transport cages by a Campylobacter-positive flock can cause the spread of Campylobacter to subsequent flocks placed in the same cages. This experiment was designed to determine the effect of extended cage storage on the viability of Campylobacter in feces deposited on the cage floor during commercial transport and holding. After 4 h of feed (but not water) withdrawal, Campylobacter-positive broilers were caught by commercial catching crews, placed into 3 new commercial cages and transported with the rest of the flock to the holding area at a commercial processing facility.

Presence of Campylobacter inthe respiratory tract of broiler carcasses before and after commercial scalding.

Campylobacter could be detected in the thoraco-abdominal cavity of broiler carcasses even if they were carefully eviscerated by hand with no evidence of intestinal rupture or leakage. If Campylobacter is present in the air sacs, which are unavoidably torn during evisceration, it could contaminate the thoraco-abdominal cavity of the eviscerated carcass. This study was done to determine if Campylobacter contamination is present in the respiratory tract of broilers prior to evisceration.

Microbiological consequences of skin removal prior to evisceration of broiler carcasses.

The objective of this project was to determine if removal of skin prior to evisceration lowers the number of bacteria that can be recovered by whole carcass rinse or sponge sampling. Four experiments were conducted, two with each type of sampling (rinse or sponge). New York dressed carcasses obtained from a commercial broiler processing plant were aseptically skinned or left with skin intact.

Effects of hot water application after defeathering on the levels of Campylobacter, coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli on broiler carcasses.

Scalding has been found to lower the levels of Campylobacter on broiler carcasses. However, the numbers recovered from whole-carcass rinse samples increase following defeathering. This study was undertaken to examine the effect of a second scald applied after defeathering on microbial levels recovered from carcass rinses.

Assessment of three devices used in shear tests of cooked breast meat.

Methods that increase processing efficiency to save energy costs and to improve yield and volume must be evaluated in terms of maintaining or improving final product quality. Shear tests measure the force to cut through fibers of cooked samples. They are the simplest and most common tests used to document cooked meat texture.