Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Paratyphoid Salmonellae isolated from Poultry in Delta Area- Egypt

The present work aimed to isolate and characterize Salmonellae from chickens, ducks, quails and turkeys in five Egyptian Governorates. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for the detection of common virulence genes. A total of 265 flock samples (150 chickens, 60 ducks, 30 quails and 25 turkeys) were collected from Dakahlia, Kafrelsheik, Damietta, Sharkia and Gharbia Governorates. Birds were subjected to either clinical and/or post-mortem examination, in adittion to isolation and identification of salmonellae from internal organs including liver, lung, spleen, caecum and unabsorbed yolk sac. Biochmeical and serological identification of the isolates was done. Twenty eight birds (10.6%) were found positive for Salmonella isolation. The number and percentage of positive chickens, ducks, quails and turkeys were 16 (10.7%), 7 (11.7%), 3 (10%) and 2 (8%), respectively. Salmonella Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, S. Kentucky, S. Paratyphi A, S. Molade, S. Heidelberg, S. Infantis and S. Apeyeme were isolated from chickens. While S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, S. Paratyphi A, S. Kentucky, S. Inganda and S. Bargny were isolated from ducks. While, S. Virchow, S. Tamale and S. Typhimurium were isolated from Quails and S. Wingrove, finally, S. Kentucky were isolated from turkeys. Molecular characterization of common virulence genes Salmonella outer proteins (sopB), Plasmid encoded virulence gene (spvC), salmonella enterotoxin (stn) and bacterial colonization factor (bcfC) showed the presence of stn and bcfC genes in all isolates, while, sopB and Spv genes were present in 64.3% and 10.7%, respectively. It is concluded that salmonellae with common virulence genes were widely spread among domestic birds in Delta areas, Egypt, resulting in economic and public health problems which require the application of strictly biosecurity measures in poultry rearing.