Impact of VAM-S Bacteriophage Solution on the Environmental Microbiome in Poultry Litter Systems from Commercial Operations

The uprising demand of poultry products has led to an increase in the production of chickens. Nonetheless, this increase also gives way for an uprise in different types of issues such as food safety, human and animal health, social challenges, and even environmental problems. Approximately one-fifth of the annual number (1.35 million in the U.S.) of foodborne illness cases originate from consuming poultry products. While postharvest intervention strategies are considerably studied and established, preharvest food safety is considered more challenging and still in early stages of development. Therefore, antimicrobials like antibiotics are commonly used in poultry production to address and prevent contamination by pathogens. As a result of the many drawbacks associated with antibiotics, there is a growing demand for alternatives in animal production. Consequently, the use of bacteriophages in this field has been on the rise. To further explain the crucialness of incorporating bacteriophage treatments to litter, Chapter 1 expands on the outbreaks related to poultry products, the negative effects of using antibiotics and the advantages of utilizing bacteriophages. A general overview of the microbiome of litter and the need to study further explains the importance of understanding. Chapter 2 of this study highlights the effect of the application of the bacteriophage treatment VAM-S on commercial poultry litter at different concentrations. The results demonstrate a significant difference by decreasing the richness of samples and increasing the diversity. The treatment also reducing the pathogenic families Staphylococcaceae and maintaining beneficial families such as Lachnospiraceae and Bacteroidaceae. Furthermore, pathogenic strains of Salmonella, Clostridia, and Escherichia-Shigella were significantly reduced or completely eliminated. Therefore, it is concluded that the bacteriophage treatment VAM-S has a significant effect on the microbial composition and diversity of poultry litter.