???????? ??????????????????????????-???????????????????????? ???????? ???? ????????????????????-???????? ??????????????

During July 16th - 19th our Product Development Team together with R&D colleagues participated in the International Association For Food Protection Meeting 2023, which took place in Toronto, Canada. Our colleague Justyna Kowalska presented the results of one of the recently conducted studies: From bacteriophage-supplemented feed to Salmonella-free poultry.

Introduction: Salmonella contaminated poultry feed is a major source of flock infections, but the use of phage additives in feed is a safe and effective method of breaking this transmission route. BAFASAL? is a GRAS bacteriophage preparation active against Salmonella.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to prove phage efficacy in poultry feed protection from Salmonella contamination.

Methodology: Commercial complete poultry feed has been sprayed-on with bacteriophages (1x105 PFU/g) and experimentally contaminated with environmental Salmonella Enteritidis isolated from poultry farm (1x103 CFU/g). The experiment was performed twice with two different strains: SE65 and SE12. Positive control samples and phage treated feed contaminated with Salmonella were incubated in triplicates at 30°C. Salmonella load was determined after 6h and 24h and compared to the initial number of bacteria (0h). The Salmonella load in the evaluated samples was recalculated into the % of pathogen reduction by bacteriophages. Statistical analysis was performed by 1-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test. The quality of feed was confirmed by the phage stability storage tests at 4°C and 25°C.

Results: In the test samples of feed with phages, the load of Salmonella SE65 was significantly reduced to 0.72% and Salmonella SE12 was significantly reduced to 0.65% after 24h (P≤0.01). Thus it can be concluded that bacteriophages can reduce number of Salmonella in experimentally contaminated feed by more than 99%, when applied at a dose of 105 PFU/g. The stability storage tests confirmed 99% activity of bacteriophages at 4°C and 87% activity at 25°C after one month.

The conclusion: The obtained results indicate that bacteriophage cocktail is an effective tool for providing safe feed for poultry and in a wider context can protect animals from feed originating infections.

Authors: El?bieta Fornal , Justyna Kowalska , Jolanta Witaszewska , Katarzyna Grochala, Natalia Adamiak, Magdalena Makowska , Monika Sakosik, Marcela ?aszkiewicz , Wojciech Kropiwnicki and Monika Terenowicz

Proteon Pharmaceuticals is a leader in bacteriophage (phage) technology for livestock farming and aquaculture. Our mission is to eliminate the need for unnecessary antibiotic use, reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as well as to increase the sustainability of protein production through the reduction of waste and improvement of on-farm efficiency. Our products function by modulating the microbiome enabling prophylactic health. We have created a precision phage product development platform using -omics technologies, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to create effective, reliable, and safe antibacterial solutions for animal and human health.