Characterization of Salmonella Enteritidis  from two separate outbreaks of acute enteritis  in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)  and turkey (Melleagris gallopavo)

T. K. Dutta; P. Roychoudhury; T. K. Rajkhowa; Rajesh Chandra

Volume : II, Issue : II, February - 2013

Characterization of Salmonella Enteritidis from two separate outbreaks of acute enteritis in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) and turkey (Melleagris gallopavo)

T. K. Dutta, P. Roychoudhury, T. K. Rajkhowa, Rajesh Chandra

Abstract :

Two independent outeaks of acute gastroenteritis in Japanese quails and turkeys were investigated and 44 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates were recovered from clinical samples. The isolates were subjected to phenotypic and genotypic characterization. All of them produced amplicons of ~1103 bp, ~700bp and ~617 bp specific for sefC, pefA and stn genes, respectively, by a multiplex PCR. Molecular typing by ERIC-PCR, RAPD-PCR and REP-PCR techniques revealed genotypic similarity among all the 44 isolates. The investigation indicated the possible involvement of contaminated feed for both the outeaks. The results also indicated that molecular techniques are rapid in comparison to conventional methods for epidemiological investigation of salmonellosis. Presence of highly virulent S. Enteritidis in food animals is a great public health concern, because poultry birds are one of the commonest sources of meat and meat products for human consumption.