title: Virulence genotypes of clinical SalmonellaSerovars from broilers in Egypt.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Salmonella serovars are one of the primary foodborne pathogens. Poultry consumption is responsible for the majority of disease cases worldwide. The prevalence of virulence determinants among Salmonella serovars appears to be lacking in Egypt. Therefore, this study investigated the occurrence, antibiotic resistance patterns, and virulence gene profiling of Salmonella serovars in broilers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred samples from broiler chickens were examined for the presence of Salmonella by standard microbiological techniques. All Salmonella isolates were tested for their sensitivity against ten antibiotics and subjected to virulence genotyping by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall isolation percentage of Salmonella was 17%. Seven different serovars were found, with the main one being Salmonella Typhimurium (52.94%). Salmonella isolates were sensitive to most of the tested antibiotics, but they exhibited absolute resistance against amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. Nine Salmonella strains (52.94%) were resistant to at least three antibiotics. Further PCR investigations into 17 Salmonella strains revealed different distribution patterns of eight virulence determinants among the isolates. The invA gene was the most prevalent one (100%), followed by hilA (88.24%), stn (58.82%), and fliC genes (52.94%), while each of sopB and pefA genes had a similar prevalence (41.18%), and sefC and spvC genes had the lowest prevalence (11.76 and 5.88%, respectively). PCR genotyping allowed grouping of Salmonella strains into ten genetic profiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results will help in understanding the spread of virulence genotypes and antibiotic resistance among Salmonella serovars in broilers.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. prof.ahmedammar_2000@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmed Mohamed
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ammar
authors.forename: Adel Attia
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Marwa Ibrahim
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Abd El-Hamid
authors.forename: Mona Mohamed
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: El-Azzouny
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004534:Egypt; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012475:Salmonella / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors