Prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella serovars isolated from spent hens and its environmental samples in Penang and Kedah, Malaysia

R.N. Raja Arief Deli and F. Adzitey

Abstract
This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella serovars isolated from spent hens obtained from poultry farms and wet market in Penang and Kedah, Malaysia. A total of 470 spent hens including environmental samples (feed, faeces and litter, and drinking water) were collected and examined for Salmonella from June 2011 to May 2012. The overall prevalence of Salmonella serovars was 14.0% (66/470). A total of 66 Salmonella isolates belong to 11 different serovars namely Salmonella corvallis (28.8%), S. Typhimurium (15.2%), S. Braenderup (15.2%), S. Albany (10.6%), S. Mbandaka (7.6%), S. Schwarzengrund (6.1%), S. Potsdam (6.1%), S. Enteritidis (4.5%), S. Virginia (3.0%), S. Muenchen (1.5%) and S. Agona (1.5%). Salmonella isolates were resistant to erythromycin (97.0%), tetracycline (93.9%) and streptomycin (66.7%) whilst sensitivity was recorded for ceftriaxone (100%), polymyxin B (98.5%) and cephalothin (97.0%). Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) index ranged from 0.08 to 0.77. Our findings provide baseline information on the distribution of Salmonella serovars and indicate that spent hens should be considered as important sources of Salmonella.

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