How can animals (e.g foxes) eat raw poultry without suffering from salmonella?
In: Biology
Carnivores (although foxes aren’t obligate carnivores, their gut is more like a carnivore) are built to handle things like that.
Low stomach pH (acidic) to break down a wider range of bacteria and toxins.
A shorter gut overall, relative to body mass, so food moves through faster, providing less time and fewer opportunities for infection.
Specialized microbiome that prevents foreign entities from taking hold.
And of course, eating raw meat right away is much safer than eating raw meat that has been handled repeatedly and stored for a period. By the time you get your chicken, from the store or even a butcher, it’s had some time to sit, it’s been around other meats, and even in the best conditions that can mean increased contamination.
That said, the prevalence of Salmonella in intensive farming has meant that a larger percentage of foxes will be infected. It will depend on their feeding habits, more exposure to infected birds will mean a higher chance of transmission.
They aren’t immune, they’re just set up to minimize.
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