Male Specific Coliphages in Poultry Litter and on Chick

s of papers 5 indicator viruses such as male specific coliphages can have signficant advantages since they can serve as conservative pathogen indicators. Also, the ability to detect pathogens originating from poultry wastes can be extremely important when assessing risks from poultry wastes. Eighteen poultry pine litter samples and conventional paper chick box trayliners obtained from a local grower facility and hatchery were screened for the presence of male specific coliphages using a qualitative phage enrichment assay. The E.coli Famp strain was used as the host bacterium. Four out of nine litter samples (44%)and three chick trayliner samples out of nine samples (33%) were positive for male specific coliphages. The ability to detect coliphages in such samples provides a sensitive and cost-effective approach for detecting viral pathogen indicators within poultry houses and in poultry wastes.