Application of Acidified Sodium Chlorite in the Drinking Water to Control Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Campylobacter jejuni in Commercial Broilers

The effect of acidified sodium chlorite (ASC), produced by the combination of sodium chlorite (SC) with citric acid (CA) or sodium acid sulfate (SAS), on Salmonella and Campylobacter reduction in market age broilers was investigated. In the first experiment, the tolerance to increasing concentrations of SC (0, 100, 300, 600, 1,200, 3,000, and 6,000 ppm) and CA (0, 0.003, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08, 0.18, and 0.40%) in the drinking water was assessed. In the second experiment, broilers were fasted for 2 h and orally gavaged with 10⁵ cfu of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium 1 h before the initiation of drinking water treatments involving 5 concentrations of SC (0, 150, 300, 600, and 1,200 ppm), acidified to pH of 2.6, either with CA or SAS. In the third experiment, 8-d-old chicks were orally challenged with 10⁵ cfu of Salmonella and 10⁵ cfu of Campylobacter jejuni. On d 29, birds were provided 3 concentrations of SC (0, 300, and 600 ppm) acidified to pH 2.6 ± 0.1 with only water, CA, or SAS for 5 d. In experiment 2 and 3, the challenge organisms were enumerated in the upper, middle, and lower segments of the digestive tract. Water consumption was depressed significantly at levels of SC above 600 ppm and levels of CA above 0.18%. In experiment 2, SC levels above 600 ppm negatively affected water consumption regardless of the acid used. A level of 600 ppm of ASC was adequate to reduce the transient crop Salmonella, whereas 1,200 ppm was required for a significant reduction in the lower digestive tract. In experiment 3, six hundred parts per million of ASC reduced Salmonella only in the upper digestive tract. Campylobacter counts were not affected by SC treatments in experiment 3 (P > 0.05). Preslaughter use of acidified SC in the drinking water may be an effective way to reduce Salmonella in the crop, including those that may be picked up through litter consumption and caprophagy.