Funding boost could help bring to market a new bacteriophage product targeting Salmonella in chickens

Awarded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Surrey scientists, alongside colleagues from the University of Leicester’s Becky Mayer Centre for Phage Research, the University of Nottingham, and animal health company, Carus Animal Health will receive a share of £800,000 to help drive forward their bacteriophage work targeting the bacteria.  

Developed by scientists at Leicester, a bacteriophage product to prevent Salmonella in broiler chickens has already been successfully trialled and tested. Bacteriophage products are commercial treatments containing specific viruses designed to target, infect, and destroy harmful bacteria without harming human, animal, or plant cells.  

This new funding will enable the team, which includes Professor Roberto La Ragione and Dr Jai Mehat from Surrey, to further test the product against emerging and multi-drug-resistant Salmonella isolates and understand the impact of bacteriophage treatment on the poultry microbiome.  

Salmonella costs the farming industry billions to control each year. In the EU, around 91,000 people are infected with Salmonellosis annually, a severe form of food poisoning.  Information from the UK Government indicates that the UKSHA is currently investigating a Salmonella outbreak, linked to imported eggs, which has resulted in nearly 600 confirmed cases and one reported death, underscoring the importance of this work.  

 Dr Anisha Thanki from the University of Leicester said:  

“For farmers, a product has to work in real poultry settings, not just in the lab. We’ll test it against a much wider range of Salmonella strains, including resistant ones, and look closely at its safety and its effects on the chickens. That will tell us what we need to improve before it can be used more widely.”