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Abstract
Possible routes for Salmonella contamination of ground chicken are through grinding chicken parts containing contaminated neck skin and bone marrow internalized with Salmonella. The objective of this study was to determine Salmonella prevalence and serotype distribution of broiler bone marrow and neck skin samples. A total of 300 drumstick bone marrow samples, 299 neck skin samples, and bootsock samples from 26 broiler houses were tested according to the USDA-FSIS standard protocols. Salmonella prevalence of bone marrow, neck skin, and broiler houses were 0.8%, 21.4% and 80.1%, respectively. Salmonella prevalence of rinsed skin samples (2.3%) and stomached skin samples (20.7%) were significantly different (p<0.05). Six Salmonella serotypes including S. Kentucky, Typhimurium, Enteritidis, Agona, Ouakam, and Liverpool were identified. Overall, Salmonella Kentucky was the most frequently isolated serotype. To conclude, contaminated neck skin can contribute to ground chicken contamination; whereas the contribution of internalized drumstick bones is expected to be much lower.