Occurrence: Worldwide. Species affected: All. Age affected: All, usually young.

Causes: There are more than 2000 Salmonellas. A lot of them can infect chickens. S. Enteritidis and S. typhimurium are salmonellas. The most important is a facultative anaerobe, with motile flagella, which produces endotoxins. Many routes of transmission. Difficult to eradicate as it can be transmitted by many wild biological vectors.

Effects: Young birds tremble, whereas birds older than 1 month usually show subclinical disease. Young birds act cold, gasp and are anorectic. Watery diarrhoea, blindness, conjunctivitis, weakness and lameness can occur. Often a carrier without symptoms. Risks for human health.

Chickens of all ages, are susceptible to this acute to chronic disease. The agents involved in the aetiology of this disease are Salmonella enteritidis/typhimurium and other species; at least 33 Salmonella shown to infect birds. All are serologically related. They are a facultative anaerobe, with motile flagella and produce endotoxins.

Young birds tremble, whereas birds older than 1 month are usually subclinical. Young birds act cold, gasp and are anorexic (do not eat). Watery diarrhoea, blindness, conjunctivitis, weakness and lameness can occur.

Subclinical.

Congested organs, caseous caeca, necrotic foci in the heart and air sacs may be seen. Unabsorbed yolks, pericarditis, arthritis, haemorrhagic enteritis in the duodenum and haemorrhagic streaks in the liver can occur.

Serologic plate agglutination ELISA haemagglutination test can monitor antibodies in the bird.

Salmonella can be cultured from lesions or faeces on tetrathionate broth base with brilliant green or selenite agar. There are no definitive signs or lesions.

Fumigation of hatching eggs with formaldehyde on the farms. Collect hatching eggs 5 times per day. Clean eggs, test breeders for positive serum using ELISA.

Inject chicks at day 1 with antibiotics (gentamicin (0.2 mg), naxal or spenctinomycin). Irradiation of meat where available. Chlorinate water in the processing plant. Commercial live and attenuated vaccine available for pullets against S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium. Dipping poultry carcass in trisodium phosphate to prevent attachment of bacteria to the carcass. Probiotics given by feed or water at any early age of life.

Nitrofuran (50-200 g/T), neomycin, gentamicin and sulphur drugs can be used. Competitive exclusion of Salmonella from the intestinal tract with Lactobacillus or other probiotic cultures.

Break out an pasteurise all eggs from S. enteriditis-infected flocks.

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