title: Salmonella serovars and their distribution in Nigerian commercial chicken layer farms.
abstract: Commercial poultry farms (n° 523), located in all the six regions of Nigeria were sampled with a view to generate baseline information about the distribution of Salmonella serovars in this country. Five different matrices (litter, dust, faeces, feed and water) were collected from each visited farm. Salmonella was isolated from at least one of the five matrices in 228 farms, with a farm prevalence of 43.6% (CI95[39.7-48.3%]). Altogether, 370 of 2615 samples collected (14.1%, CI95[12.8; 15.5%]) contained Salmonella. Considering the number of positive farms and the number of positive samples, it was evident that for the majority of the sampled farms, few samples were positive for Salmonella. With regard to the matrices, there was no difference in Salmonella prevalence among the five matrices considered. Of the 370 isolates serotyped, eighty-two different serotypes were identified and Salmonella Kentucky was identified as having the highest isolation rate in all the matrices sampled (16.2%), followed by S. Poona and S. Elisabethville. S. Kentucky was distributed across the country, whereas the other less frequent serovars had a more circumscribed diffusion. This is one of few comprehensive studies on the occurrence and distribution of Salmonella in commercial chicken layer farms from all the six regions of Nigeria. The relatively high prevalence rate documented in this study may be attributed to the generally poor infrastructure and low biosecurity measures in controlling stray animals, rodents and humans. Data collected could be valuable for instituting effective intervention strategies for Salmonella control in Nigeria and also in other developing countries with a similar poultry industry structure, with the final aim of reducing Salmonella spread in animals and ultimately in humans.
authors.affiliation: Bacterial Research Division, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Idowu Oluwabunmi
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Fagbamila
authors.affiliation: Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barco
authors.affiliation: Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancin
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwaga
authors.affiliation: Bacterial Research Division, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Sati Samuel
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ngulukun
authors.affiliation: Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zavagnin
authors.affiliation: Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonia Anna
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lettini
authors.affiliation: Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorenzetto
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Paul Ayuba
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Abdu
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Junaidu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Jarlath
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Umoh
authors.affiliation: Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.affiliation: Bacterial Research Division, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muhammad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D000072480:Farms; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D065288:Serogroup; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004391:Dust