Semisolid selective-motility enrichment medium for isolation of salmonellae from fecal specimens

A semisolid selective-motility enrichment medium for the isolation of salmonellae from fecal specimens was developed which was based on Rappaport enrichment broth. During a 7-year period more than 30,000 stool samples were tested. The medium showed a high specificity (95.1%) and sensitivity (80.3%) when compared with MacConkey agar, SS agar, and brilliant green agar (after Selenite-F Enrichment [BBL Microbiology Systems]). Furthermore, our isolation rate of Salmonella species from fecal samples showed an increase of 22.3% when this semisolid medium was added to the routine culture media. Growth could easily be interpreted. The medium has a bias toward the isolation of Salmonella paratyphi B, but it is unsatisfactory for detecting the nonmotile strains Salmonella typhi and S. paratyphi A.