Introduction of Salmonellae into a centralized laboratory animal facility by infected day old chicks

Fifty deliveries of day old chicks were examined for Salmonellae on arrival as part of the Animal Laboratories' routine microbiological monitoring programme. Paper floor inserts and faeces from the transport boxes were immersed in peptone water and then cultured in two different enrichment media. Salmonellae were isolated in six of the 50 samples; one isolate was identified as Salmonella muenchen and the other five as Salmonella cerro var. siegburg. The relevance of these findings to multispecies animal facilities is discussed.