Salmonella isolated from animals and feed stuffs in Sweden during 1978-1982

Regulations concerning the control of Salmonella in animals are more strict in Sweden than in most other countries, though a certain liberalization took place in 1982. The main purpose of these regulations is to prevent transmission of Salmonella infections from animals to man. Veterinarians and laboratories are obliged to report all Salmonella cases to the veterinary authorities. The cases are recorded by the Swedish Board of Agriculture. During the period of this report, 1978-1982, 1266 outbreaks of Salmonella in animals were recorded in Sweden. Isolated strains belonged to 78 different serotypes. The most frequent serotypes were S. typhi-murium (38.5% of the recorded cases) and S. dublin (37%). S. dublin was isolated mainly from cattle, while S. typhi-murium was isolated from a wide range of animal species. Next in frequency are some serotypes isolated mainly from chicken, at rates around 2%: S. livingstone, S. liverpool, and S. agona. Of the 78 isolated serotypes, 25 were never isolated before from animals in Sweden. There were 687 outbreaks of Salmonella recorded in cattle. Predominant serotypes are S. dublin (67% of the outbreaks in cattle) and S. typhi-murium (28%). The outbreaks of S. dublin, like earlier in the sixties and seventies, occurred mainly in south-eastern Sweden. The recorded occurrence of Salmonella in swine continued to decrease. During this period only 37 outbreaks were diagnosed. Of these more than half were caused by S. typhi-murium. S. choleraesuis was isolated from 6 cases only.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)