Survey of Salmonella Infections in Broiler Farms around Sanandaj

Paratyphoid Salmonella infections are very important in poultry industry. Chicken meat and eggs are recognized among the major sources for Salmonella infection in recent years. The main purpose of this survey was to isolate Salmonella from broiler farms around Sanandaj city, identifying the serogroups and determine the drug resistance pattern of the isolated Salmonella.
A total number of 2220 samples were randomly collected from freshly dropped feces of broilers from 20 different broiler flocks around Sandanaj city. Sixty samples were taken from each poultry house in a farm and then each 10 samples were pooled. All 220 pooled samples obtained from 20 flocks were processed for Salmonella isolation according to standard procedures. By using polyvalent Salmonella antisera and by slide agglutination test the serogroup of each isolate was determined. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates against 20 antibacterial agents was determined using standard disk diffusion method.
Findings: Out of 222 pooled samples, four Salmonella isolates were recovered which belonged to three different flocks. Serogrouping of four Salmonella isolates identified three isolates as serogroup D and one as serogroup C. All Salmonella isolates were susceptible to danofloxacin, norfloxacin, ampicillin and levofloxacin and were resistant to nalidixic acid and flumequine. Multi-resistance was observed for all Salmonella isolates. Resistance to 5-9 antibacterial agents was shown. Four drug resistance patterns were exhibited.
Discussion & The results of this study showed the presence of Salmonella infection among broiler chickens in Sanandaj region and the occurrence of resistance to antibacterial agents for four isolated Salmonella. These findings are important for Iranian poultry industry and public health concerns.