Isolation of Salmonella from impounded dogs introduced to a laboratory

Isolation of Salmonella from the feces of impounded dogs was carried out to make clear the recent microbiological condition of dogs introduced into our facilities. Salmonella was isolated from 10 out of 283 samples (3.5%). Inparticular, during the first week after introduction, Salmonella was isolated from nine out of 74 dogs (12.2%). The isolation rate during the first week after introduction was significantly higher than that for dogs introduced later. No isolates were detected from dogs reared for more than 3 weeks after introduction. This study indicates that impounded dogs had the highest risk of infecting a person with Salmonella during the first week after introduction into our laboratory animal facilities, and that we need to pay attention to this fact when handling them.