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Browsing by Author "Ingram, David T."

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    Agricultural Practices Influence Salmonella Contamination and Survival in Pre-harvest Tomato Production
    Gu, Ganyu; Strawn, Laura K.; Oryang, David O.; Zheng, Jie; Reed, Elizabeth A.; Ottesen, Andrea R.; Bell, Rebecca L.; Chen, Yuhuan; Duret, Steven; Ingram, David T.; Reiter, Mark S.; Pfuntner, Rachel; Brown, Eric W.; Rideout, Steven L. (Frontiers, 2018-10-16)
    Between 2000 and 2010 the Eastern Shore of Virginia was implicated in four Salmonella outbreaks associated with tomato. Therefore, a multi-year study (2012-2015) was performed to investigate presumptive factors associated with the contamination of Salmonella within tomato fields at Virginia Tech's Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Factors including irrigation water sources (pond and well), type of soil amendment: fresh poultry litter (PL), PL ash, and a conventional fertilizer (triple superphosphate - TSP), and production practices: staked with plastic mulch (SP), staked without plastic mulch (SW), and non-staked without plastic mulch (NW), were evaluated by split-plot or complete-block design. All field experiments relied on naturally occurring Salmonella contamination, except one follow up experiment (worst-case scenario) which examined the potential for contamination in tomato fruits when Salmonella was applied through drip irrigation. Samples were collected from pond and well water; PL, PL ash, and TSP; and the rhizosphere, leaves, and fruits of tomato plants. Salmonella was quantified using a most probable number method and contamination ratios were calculated for each treatment. Salmonella serovar was determined by molecular serotyping. Salmonella populations varied significantly by year; however, similar trends were evident each year. Findings showed use of untreated pond water and raw PL amendment increased the likelihood of Salmonella detection in tomato plots. Salmonella Newport and Typhimurium were the most frequently detected serovars in pond water and PL amendment samples, respectively. Interestingly, while these factors increased the likelihood of Salmonella detection in tomato plots (rhizosphere and leaves), all tomato fruits sampled (n = 4800) from these plots were Salmonella negative. Contamination of tomato fruits was extremely low (< 1%) even when tomato plots were artificially inoculated with an attenuated Salmonella Newport strain (10(4) CFU/mL). Furthermore, Salmonella was not detected in tomato plots irrigated using well water and amended with PL ash or TSP. Production practices also influenced the likelihood of Salmonella detection in tomato plots. Salmonella detection was higher in tomato leaf samples for NW plots, compared to SP and SW plots. This study provides evidence that attention to agricultural inputs and production practices may help reduce the likelihood of Salmonella contamination in tomato fields.
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    Strain, Soil-Type, Irrigation Regimen, and Poultry Litter Influence Salmonella Survival and Die-off in Agricultural Soils
    Bardsley, Cameron; Weller, Daniel L.; Ingram, David T.; Chen, Yuhuan; Oryang, David O.; Rideout, Steven L.; Strawn, Laura K. (2021-03-16)
    The use of untreated biological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAO) have been identified as one potential mechanism for the dissemination and persistence of Salmonella in the produce growing environment. Data on factors influencing Salmonella concentration in amended soils are therefore needed. The objectives here were to (i) compare die-off between 12 Salmonella strains following inoculation in amended soil and (ii) characterize any significant effects associated with soil-type, irrigation regimen, and amendment on Salmonella survival and die-off. Three greenhouse trials were performed using a randomized complete block design. Each strain (similar to 4 log CFU/g) was homogenized with amended or non-amended sandy-loam or clay-loam soil. Salmonella levels were enumerated In 25 g samples 0, 0.167 (4 h), 1,2, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21,28, 56, 84, 112, 168, 210, 252, and 336 days post-inoculation (dpi), or until two consecutive samples were enrichment negative. Regression analysis was performed between strain, soil-type, Irrigation, and (i) time to last detect (survival) and (li) concentration at each time-point (die-off rate). Similar effects of strain, irrigation, soil-type, and amendment were identified using the survival and die-off models. Strain explained up to 18% of the variance in survival, and up to 19% of variance In die-off rate. On average Salmonella survived for 129 days in amended soils, however, Salmonella survived, on average, 30 days longer In clay-loam soils than sandy-loam soils [95% Confidence interval (Cl) = 45, 15], with survival time ranging from 84 to 210 days for the individual strains during dally irrigation. When strain- specific associations were investigated using regression trees, S. Javiana and S. Saintpaul were found to survive longer In sandy-loam soil, whereas most of the other strains survived longer In clay-loam soil. Salmonella also survived, on average, 128 days longer when irrigated weekly, compared to daily (Cl = 101, 154), and 89 days longer in amended soils, than non-amended soils (Cl = 61,116). Overall, this study provides insight into Salmonella survival following contamination of field soils by BSAAO. Specifically, Salmonella survival may be strain- specific as affected by both soil characteristics and management practices. These data can assist in risk assessment and strain selection for use in challenge and validation studies.