An overview of the use of bacteriophages in the poultry industry: Successes, challenges, and possibilities for overcoming breakdowns

Abstract

The primary contaminants in poultry are Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. Their pathogenicity together with the widespread of these bacteria, contributes to many economic losses and poses a threat to public health. With the increasing prevalence of bacterial pathogens being resistant to most conventional antibiotics, scientists have rekindled interest in using bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents. Bacteriophage treatments have also been investigated as an alternative to antibiotics in the poultry industry. Bacteriophages’ high specificity may allow them only to target a specific bacterial pathogen in the infected animal. However, a tailor-made sophisticated cocktail of different bacteriophages could broaden their antibacterial activity in typical situations with multiple clinical strains infections. Bacteriophages may not only be used in terms of reducing bacterial contamination in animals but also, under industrial conditions, they can be used as safe disinfectants to reduce contamination on food-contact surfaces or poultry carcasses. Nevertheless, bacteriophage therapies have not been developed sufficiently for widespread use. Problems with resistance, safety, specificity, and long-term stability must be addressed in particular. This review highlights the benefits, challenges, and current limitations of bacteriophage applications in the poultry industry.

Characterization of Salmonella phages isolated from poultry coops and its effect with nisin on food bio‐control

“…Compared to antibiotics, bacteriophages are specific for certain bacteria, infecting only one species, serotype, or strain, so they do not cause destruction of the common intestinal flora. Additionally, self‐replication of bacteriophages occurs during treatment, eliminating the need for their repeated administration (Loc‐Carrillo & Abedon, 2011 ) Further, it is predicted that bacteriophages can be used not only to reduce bacterial contamination in animals, but also as safe disinfectants in industry to reduce contamination on food contact surfaces or poultry carcasses (Abd‐El Wahab et al., 2023 ). It is stated that phage therapy may be helpful in reducing horizontal transmission of Salmonella in poultry (Wernicki et al., 2017 ).…”

A bacteriophage cocktail can efficiently reduce five important Salmonella serotypes both on chicken skin and stainless steel

“…Several reviews have addressed this area of research in depth, particularly focusing on Salmonella spp. as target bacteria (Żbikowska et al, 2020 ; Islam et al, 2021 ; Wessels et al, 2021 ; Han et al, 2022 ; Khan and Rahman, 2022 ; Abd-El Wahab et al, 2023 ; Shahdadi et al, 2023 ). To date, there are a number of reports describing experimental studies on the reduction of Salmonella through post-harvest application (Goode et al, 2003 ; Hungaro et al, 2013 ; Duc et al, 2018 ; Atterbury et al, 2020 ; Esmael et al, 2021 ; Shakeri et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In the USA and other developed countries, the use of phage cocktails with a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status is permitted. Conversely, within the European Union (EU), the application of phage preparations within the food industry is not allowed due to regulatory concerns (Abd-El Wahab et al, 2023 ). However, the use of phages to combat Listeria is regarded as safe within the EU (EFSA BIOHAZ Panel, 2016 ).…”

A Bacteriophage Cocktail Reduces Five Relevant Salmonella Serotypes at Low Multiplicities of Infection and Low Temperatures

“…Phages could be applied during all phases of poultry production “from farm to fork”. Post-harvest application of phages could be employed for food biocontrol or disinfection of food contact or nonfood contact surfaces [ 40 ].…”