Washington - Researchers have developed an electrostatic air cleaner that sharply reduces salmonella infection of newly hatched chicks, Deputy Agricutlure Secretary Richard Rominger announced.
The device created by the Agricultural Research Service uses a negative electrostatic charge to collect dust particles in hatching cabinets. The particles are deposited on plates that are automatically rinsed several times each hour.
Airborne particles can carry salmonella bacteria to the feathers and lungs of chicks, so one infected chick can spread bacteria throughtout a hatching chamber.
In laboratory tests, the air cleaner reduced salmonella by 95 percent in week-old birds and egg-laying hens, USDA said. It appeared to have similar results in commercial hatching cabinets.
Rominger announced the results at the start of a two-day meeting on food safety research.
The air cleaning system was developed by agricultural engineer Bailey Mitchell and veterinarian Henry Stone at ARS's Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia.
Mitchell said recent tests suggested the device might increase the number of chicks hatched by an average of one percent, which could translate to higher profits.
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