A New Litter Disinfectant for Poultry Pathogen Control

In the United States an estimated 2.4 million cases of human campylobacteriosis and 1.4 million cases of nontyphoidal human salmonellosis occur each year. Contaminated poultry meat is considered the most important vehicle of human infection with Campylobacter and Salmonella in the United States. Bacteriological surveys are conducted on a regular basis to ensure that the occurrence of important human pathogens on broilers and turkeys, like Salmonella and Campylobacter, fall within federal guidelines. The three strikes ruling means that within a given survey period, processing plants are allowed a limited number of failures for plants that exceed the third strike failure period, this translates to millions of dollars in lost revenue. Lynntech, Inc. has developed a new class of materials specifically designed to significantly reduce the pathogen population in chicken litter and thus prevent horizontal transmission of these pathogens throughout the flock. This new class of materials combines the unique characteristics of diatomaceous earth (DE) which is a highly stable, non-toxic, porous silicon dioxide that is approved for use by the EPA and USDA and has been classified as GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) by the FDA, with a new class of antimicrobial pH modifying compounds that are also environmentally benign.