Base study for the establishment of national Salmonella control program in hatching farms and table eggs in Turkey

Abstract

Foodborne infections due to Salmonella are still a major concern worldwide. Particularly contaminated egg and egg relatedproducts are the primary sources for human salmonellosis. It is necessary to determine the risk factors associated with Salmonellacontamination of eggs within the scope of farm to table and environment. The objective of this study was to develop the “NationalSalmonella Control Program in Laying Hens” and report the prevalence and serotype distribution findings of Salmonella in laying hensand eggs in Turkey. A total of 2122 samples were collected and analysed according to ISO 6579:2002 after the isolation and identificationprocedures. All Salmonella isolates were serotyped including 726 eggs and 1396 farm specimens from 241 epidemiological units (EpUs)that were located in 9 different provinces between 2015 and 2017. Salmonella contamination was detected in 14.9% of 241 EpUs. Theresults indicated that almost half of the flocks have multiple contamination sources. The highest contamination rate was obtained fromenvironmental (11%) followed by faeces (7.5%) and the lowest was from water samples (1.6%). The overall contamination rate wasdetected as 7.46% for farms and 3.3% for eggs. As S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium are the most frequently seen serotypes all overthe world, in Turkey S. Typhimurium was not detected and S. Enteritidis was the 5th most common isolated serotype. According toour results it can be concluded that differences in various countries, particularly geographical and egg hatching systems, may affect thecontamination rate and serotype distribution of Salmonella.