The most contaminated samples related with poultry production
were: delivery-box liners (32.0%), faeces samples (31.2%), dust samples (25.0%), farming
boots (19.7%) and feed from feeders (16.0%). However, the most important risk factors for
Salmonella contamination of the flocks at the end of the rearing period were Salmonella
status of the house after cleaning and disinfection, Salmonella status of day-old chick flocks
and feed from feeders. Twenty-one different serovars were isolated from the samples analysed.
The most prevalent were in decreasing order: Salmonella Enteritidis (52.9%), S. Hadar
(17.8%), S. Virchow (8.9%) and S. Ohio (5.4%). The study suggested that there are many
sources for Salmonella contamination and persistence in broiler production. Hence, the
whole production chain needs to be controlled to eradicate the bacteria from primary
production.