Occurrence and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Salmonella Serotypes in Apparently Healthy Slaughtered Sheep in Van, Turkey

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of Salmonella sp. and to determine their susceptibility to antibiotics in apparently healthy slaughtered sheep. In this research, a total of 600 (300 rectal and 300 vaginal) swabs taken from sheep were used as materials. A total of 9 (1.5%) Salmonella sp. were isolated from samples. Of the 9 Salmonella sp., 6 (2%) were isolated from rectal swabs and 3 (1%) Salmonella serotypes from vaginal swabs. Salmonella strains were serotyped as Salmonella saintpaul. All Salmonella strains were found to be susceptible to ampicillin, enrofloxacin, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, gentamicin, neomycin, chloramphenicol, spectinomycin, cephalothin, amoxycillin/clavulanic acid, trimethoprim+ sulfamethoxazole, nalidixic acid and penicillin G (except 2 isolates) whereas, they were resistant to erythromycin and novobiocin. This is the first time, S. saintpaul was isolated in rectal and vaginal swab samples of the sheep slaughtered in abattoirs in Turkey.