Prevalence of Salmonella serotypes isolated in Spain from human and non human sources (1983-1987)

Salmonella serotypes over a five year period were studied in order to know their prevalence in Spain. The Salmonella Reference Centre received a total of 17,612 strains from 1983-1987. The majority (16,133) were of human origin and only 1,479 strains were isolated from non-human sources. The serotyping yielded 100 different serotypes, Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis (8) being the commonest in both groups, 61.18% of human origin and 31.91% of non-human origin. Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium the commonest serotype in many countries, occupies second place in our results with the following percentages 11.87% and 9.67% respectively. Among the strains of human origin Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi occupies fourth place (3.24%). This is very low compared with the high number of clinically diagnosed typhoid fever cases declared in the country: over 5,000 cases per year.