A food safety and public health research team with Texas Tech's Department of Animal and Food Sciences has received $100,000 for Salmonella research from animal-health company Zoetis. The research funds will help provide resources to better understand and describe the ecology of Salmonella in cattle populations, as well as discover and evaluate tools that might ultimately result in a safer food supply, officials with the Madison, N.J.-based firm said today (May 22).

"Salmonella continues to threaten human health," said Guy Loneragan, a Texas Tech professor of food safety and public health. "With new understandings of how it interacts with livestock populations, we can develop better tools that can lead to meaningful improvements in food safety." Loneragan is a member of the USDA's National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods.

Loneragan noted that this sort of industry collaboration is vital to discovery and development of tools to keep food safe, and the research gift will greatly enhance activities to discover and deliver these solutions. One particular benefit from the new funding is that it isn't tied to a specific project or endowment, he said.

"Anticipating every outcome is difficult when working with a foodborne pathogen like Salmonella in cattle," Loneragan said. "The flexibility of this research gift ensures that we can pursue new developments as they arise."

Loneragan added that the research gift really reflects an ongoing and growing relationship between Zoetis and Texas Tech. "Without industry partnerships such as this, our ability to achieve food-safety research goals and drive innovation in the area of foodborne pathogens is greatly diminished."

Research focused in the cattle industry at large not only helps provide important solutions in Salmonella research, it offers opportunities for education and training for Texas Tech graduate students, added Zoetis Senior Vice President Michelle Haven. Zoetis sells animal medicines and vaccines ranging from anti-infectives for cattle to drugs that prevent vomiting because of motion sickness in dogs.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Guy Loneragan, professor, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2805 ext. 268 or guy.loneragan@ttu.edu

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Editor's Note: For complete story, go to http://beefmagazine.com/zoetis-gifts-texas-tech-100000-salmonella-research