Survival of Salmonella typhimurium in poultry feed and litter at three temperatures.

Poultry feed and litter were contaminated with a large number of Salmonella typhimurium cells and then stored at 11, 25, or 38 C. Samples of feed and litter were cultured at daily or weekly intervals. The organisms survived best at the two lower temperatures. Persistence was as follows: at 11 C, at least 18 months in both feed and litter; at 25 C, 16 months in feed and 18 months in litter; and at 38 C, about 40 days in feed and only 13 days in litter. Hence, samples of feed and litter collected for bacteriologic examination should be stored at low temperatures.