Experimental Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 infection and egg transmission in Japanese quails

Japanese quails were inoculated orally with 1 x 10(10) colony-forming units of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 isolated from chicks to obtain information concerning S. enteritidis infection and egg transmission. The inoculation resulted in a bacteraemic infection with seeding of the liver, spleen, intestine, peritoneum, ovule, ovary and oviduct. Some infected birds showed diarrhoea, ruffled feathers, depression, loss of appetite and death. However, most infected birds remained clinically normal with normal egg production. Salmonella enteritidis was isolated from the albumen of 7, yolk of 15, shell of 13, and shell membrane of 15 of 164 eggs. The experiment suggests that S. enteritidis phage type 4 is invasive for Japanese quails and the infected eggs laid by S. enteritidis infected quails are probably the result of transovarian infection.