Isolation and characterization of Salmonella from broiler carcasses or parts.

A study was conducted to determine and characterize Salmonella contamination on ready-to-cook broilers or parts in the Columbus, OH, metropolitan area. Ten to twelve samples per store were examined, using a whole-carcass rinse method. The Salmonella cultures isolated were tested for resistance to a series of nine drugs and, subsequently, were sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory at Ames, IA for serotype identification. Cultures identified as Salmonella were also examined for the presence of plasmids. Salmonella was isolated from one or more samples obtained from 11 of the 12 stores, and from 43% of the 142 samples examined. The serotypes isolated most often were Salmonella hadar, Salmonella heidelberg, and Salmonella johannesburg. Of the 55 cultures tested for drug resistance, 32.7% were sensitive to all nine drugs. The most-common patterns of drug resistance were triple sulfa (41.8% of the cultures) and tetracycline (34.5% of the cultures). Plasmids were found in 41.7% of the 36 cultures analyzed. The results of the present study indicate that the probability is high that carcasses from retail stores will have at least a few drug-resistant Salmonella cells.