We often find Salmonella in fish meal (dry sample with around 6 % moisture and 9 % fat) samples but after a while (a week or two) the levels drop so low that we cannot detect it anymore. Is there a way to keep the Salmonella viable for a longer period? We would like to use this naturally contaminated feed to spike other feed to use in research projects over a period of time. Would refrigerating or freezing the sample help? Could I use some sort of cryoprotectant?