Salmonella, from the plant to the digestive tract: research into control strategies

Salmonella are pathogenic bacteria responsible for typhoid and paratyphoid fever, as well as gastroenteritis, which constitute a major public health problem worldwide. Whilst in developing countries water is the main source of contamination, in industrialised countries raw or undercooked food, particularly poultry products, is the major source of human infection. Recently, plants have also been implicated. It is thanks to advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of interaction between bacteria and their hosts – notably the interaction of Salmonella with plants or with the animal intestine – that methods can be proposed to combat Salmonella infections. These interactions are complex and involve both bacterial and host factors. Research carried out on poultry has led to the development of preventive methods based on the establishment of hygiene measures, the development of vaccines or competitive gut flora, as well as the selection of poultry strains resistant to infection or carriage of Salmonella. All these approaches aim to reduce contamination of poultry in order to minimise human contamination.