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

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Foodborne infections due to Salmonella are still a major concern worldwide. Particularly contaminated egg and egg related products are the primary sources for human salmonellosis. It is necessary to determine the risk factors associated with Salmonella contamination of eggs within the scope of farm to table and environment. The objective of this study was to develop the "National Salmonella Control Program in Laying Hens" and report the prevalence and serotype distribution findings of Salmonella in laying hens and eggs in Turkey. A total of 2122 samples were collected and analysed according to ISO 6579:2002 after the isolation and identification procedures. 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. The results indicated that almost half of the flocks have multiple contamination sources. The highest contamination rate was obtained from environmental (11%) followed by faeces (7.5%) and the lowest was from water samples (1.6%). The overall contamination rate was detected as 7.46% for farms and 3.3% for eggs. As S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium are the most frequently seen serotypes all over the world, in Turkey S. Typhimurium was not detected and S. Enteritidis was the 5th most common isolated serotype. According to our results it can be concluded that differences in various countries, particularly geographical and egg hatching systems, may affect the contamination rate and serotype distribution of Salmonella.