Salmonella, is a serious pathogen causing disastrous losses in the poultry production and dangerous human infections. This study was aimed to identify Salmonella serotypes and to detect the prominent virulence genes and antimicrobial resistance of the obtained serotypes from samples collected from dead chicken embryos, dead duck embryos and commercial broilers. The pathogenicity of some serotypes as (Salmonella Pullorum, Salmonella Enteritidis, and Salmonella Typhimurium) was investigated in one-day-old commercial layer chicks. A total of 180 cases were collected, after isolation 18 Salmonella isolates were reported to be as follows 7/100(7%), 5/40(12.5%) and 6/40(15%) in broilers, dead chickens, and dead duck embryos, respectively. The most prevalent serotypes were S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, S. Pullorum, S. Vejle, S. Amsterdam, S. Infantis, S. Petersburg, and S. Atakpame. The distribution patterns of virulence genes iroN, cdtB, spaN, invA, and orgA, expressed as follows; 17/18(94.4%), 15/18(83.3%), 14/18(77.7%), 13/18(72.2%), and 12/18(66.7%) of serotypes, respectively. Added to that, the sipV, IpfC, sopB, prgH, and sitC virulence genes were amplified in 7/18(38.8%), 7/18(38.8%), 7/18(38.8%), 5/18(27.7%) and 3/18(16.6%) of isolates respectively. Most of isolates 16/18 (88.9%) expressed multiple antibiotic resistances (MAR) indices ranged from ≥0.3 ≤1. Based on the pathogenicity testing, S. Pullorum was the most pathogenic due to the clear signs and a mortality rate of 35%. Hence, the genotypic characterization and continuous monitoring of antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella from poultry are of public health concern to implement effective control strategies against this notorious pathogen.

To Cite This Article: Shehata AA, Basiouni S, Elrazek AA, Sultan H, Tarabees R, Elsayed MSAE, Talat S, Moharam I, Said A, Mohsen WA and Krüger M, 2019. Characterization of Salmonella Enterica isolated from poultry hatcheries and commercial broiler chickens. Pak Vet J, 39(4): 515-520. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2019.033