Non-Antibiotics Strategies to Control Salmonella Infection in Poultry

Simple Summary This review is focused on describing the main available antibiotic-free strategies that may be implemented to control or reduce the impact associated with Salmonella infection in poultry. These alternatives have been cataloged in two groups: feeding-based (prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, and phytobiotics) and non-feeding-based strategies (bacteriophages, in ovo applications, and vaccines). Moreover, we highlighted the relevance of the omics as a tool to design and validate the effects and efficacy of these kinds of treatments when Salmonella control is pursued. Salmonella spp. is a facultative intracellular pathogen causing localized or systemic infections, involving economic and public health significance, and remains the leading pathogen of food safety concern worldwide, with poultry being the primary transmission vector. Antibiotics have been the main strategy for Salmonella control for many years, which has allowed producers to improve the growth and health of food-producing animals. However, the utilization of antibiotics has been reconsidered since bacterial pathogens have established and shared a variety of antibiotic resistance mechanisms that can quickly increase within microbial communities. The use of alternatives to antibiotics has been recommended and successfully applied in many countries, leading to the core aim of this review, focused on (1) describing the importance of Salmonella infection in poultry and the effects associated with the use of antibiotics for disease control; (2) discussing the use of feeding-based (prebiotics, probiotics, bacterial subproducts, phytobiotics) and non-feeding-based (bacteriophages, in ovo injection, vaccines) strategies in poultry production for Salmonella control; and (3) exploring the use of complementary strategies, highlighting those based on -omics tools, to assess the effects of using the available antibiotic-free alternatives and their role in lowering dependency on the existing antimicrobial substances to manage bacterial infections in poultry effectively.

Automated summary

This review discusses the main antibiotic-free strategies for controlling Salmonella infection in poultry, categorized into feeding-based and non-feeding-based approaches. The importance of omics as a tool to design and validate the efficacy of these treatments is highlighted.