Persistent shedding of Salmonella enteritidis from the udder of a cow

Salmonella enteritidis phagetype 8 was isolated from ill humans, milk-line filters, milk from a bulk tank, and milk from the right hind quarter of a five-year-old Holstein cow on a dairy farm in southern Alberta. The affected animal was removed from the herd and continued to shed S. enteritidis from this quarter during a seven-month interval in an isolation facility. Milk from the affected quarter was visually normal, and no other pathogen was isolated from the udder during the investigation. After removal of the infected cow from the herd, milk from the bulk tank was culturally negative for Salmonella sp. during the succeeding 15 months.