Development of a Salmonella source-attribution model for evaluating targets in the turkey meat production

A Salmonella source attribution model based on a microbial-subtyping approach was developed to estimate the public health effect of setting a new target for the reduction of Salmonella in fattening turkey flocks in the European Union. The model considers the quantitative contribution and relevance of different Salmonella serovars found in turkeys to human salmonellosis and includes 25 Member States, four animal-food sources of Salmonella (turkeys, broilers, laying hens and pigs) and 23 Salmonella serovars. This turkey-target Salmonella attribution model (TT-SAM) employs prevalence and serovar distribution data from the EU statutory monitoring and EU-wide Baseline Surveys on Salmonella in animal-food sources, data on incidence and serovar distribution of human salmonellosis, and food availability data.