Abstract:
Salmonellosis is a common concern in food products, particularly those derived from the dairy
industry. Bacteriophage are present in raw milk and are the natural predators of bacteria such as
Salmonella. In this project, bacteriophage are isolated from raw milk in order to quantify their
bactericidal effects on relevant Salmonella serovars. There is potential to use bacteriophage as a
preventative/ treatment option for salmonellosis.
We used bacterial isolation and identification techniques to determine the presence of Salmonella
in a dairy farm environment. Serial dilution, spectrophotometry, and double agar plating methods
were utilized in order to isolate bacteriophage. Bacteriophage were then successfully isolated for
naturally occurring Salmonella. Although the experiment is still ongoing, we have concluded that
there are relevant serovars of Salmonella in the bovine milk samples we tested. Also present in
these samples are endogenous bacteriophage with potential to biologically control the presence
and growth of these bacteria in unprocessed dairy milk.
