Prevalence and Characerizaion of <i>Salmonella pullorum</i>from Day Old Chicks Distributed to Farms in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

To investigate sources of Salmonella pullorum infections that cause frequent outbreaks of bacillary white diarrhea in poultry and sporadic human food poisoning in Nigeria, prevalence of the infection among day-old-chicks in Akwa-Ibom State, south-south Nigeria, was studied. From each depot/hatchery, 30 day-old chicks were randomly selected for their livers, spleens, kidneys, hearts, yolk sacs and intestines which were processed and cultured on appropriate bacterial media. Colonies that grew from the specimens were characterized based on their morphologies, staining characteristics, biochemical reactions and cultural characteristics. Gram positive isolates that were: short, plum shaped, rods, non-spore forming and non-capsulated were identified as Salmonella species. Motility test and biochemical tests on the Salmonella colonies identified those that were S. pullorum. Five percent of chicks being distributed in Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria were infected with S. pullorum, the agent of, bacillary white diarrhea (which causes high mortality in chicks) and food poisoning in man.