Cross-protection conferred by live-attenuated Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine against S. Heidelberg and S. Infantis

Abstract

Salmonella infection is one of the main causes of foodborne illnesses worldwide historically associated with the consumption of eggs and chicken meat. While S. Enteritidis (SE) and S. Typhimurium are the most prevalent serotypes, S. Infantis (SI) and S. Heidelberg (SH) are emerging worldwide and represent a public health problem. Nowadays, vaccination is one of the main strategies to control Salmonella in the farms to improve the food safety. Live attenuated vaccines that can be administered during the first days of life of chicks are widely used in layers and breeders to reduce the impact of non-typhoidal serotypes in the poultry industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protection conferred by a live SE vaccine (auxotrophic for adenine and histidine strain) vaccine in laying hens challenged either with SH or SI field strains.