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Cleaning the air of henhouses can prevent Salmonella infections for
just a fraction of the £4 million Britain now spends annually on its
vaccination programme. Salmonella bacteria in chickens and eggs caused
15 000 cases of food poisoning last year in Britain alone. Slaughtering infected
flocks, the main control method, seems to have had little impact on infection.
Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture’s Southeast Poultry Research
Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, have found that metal plates carrying an
electrostatic charge attract dust particles that carry the bacteria. If air in
the henhouse circulates over the plates, and the plates are rinsed several times
an hour, Salmonella infections fall by 95 per cent in laying hens.