Detection of Salmonella spp. in stray dogs in Bursa province, Turkey:: First isolation of Salmonella corvallis from dogs

The prevalence and antimicrobial sensitivity of Salmonella spp. in stray dogs in Bursa province, Turkey were determined from a total of 82 faecal samples by bacteriological methods. Of the dogs, nine (11%) were positive for salmonellae-carrying. All Salmonella isolates were serotyped as S. Corvallis, and were sensitive to amoxycillin/clavulanic acid, ampicillin, cephalothin, chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, neomycin, oxytetracycline and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, while 66.7% of them were resistant to streptomycin. It was concluded that stray dogs could be an important carrier of salmonellae as well as a source of human salmonellosis in Turkey. Additional studies are needed to clarify the epidemiological relationship between S. Corvallis isolated from dogs and humans with regard to public health. This is the first report on the isolation of S. Corvallis from dogs in the country.