Salmonella prevalence and serovar distribution in healthy slaughter sheep and cattle determined by ISO 6579 and VIDAS UP Salmonella methods.

Prevalence of Salmonella in slaughter sheep and cattle was determined by International Organization for Standardization Method 6579 (ISO) and Vitek Immunodiagnostic Assay System UP Salmonella Phage Technology (VIDAS UP Salmonella SPT-VIDAS UP). A total of 400 healthy slaughter sheep (n = 200) and cattle (n = 200) carcass (C), fecal content (FC), mesenteric lymph node (MLN), liver (L), kidney (K), spleen (S) and gall bladder (GB) were randomly sampled and analysed. ISO and VIDAS UP results indicated 13 (3.25%) and 17 (4.25%) of 400 animals carried Salmonella, respectively, regardless of sample type. There was no isolation from L, S, GB, while 2 C (0.5%), 6 FC (1.5%), 7 MLN (1.75%), 3 K (0.75%) were contaminated with Salmonella. S. Typhimurium (27.8%), S. Enteritidis (22.2%), S. Newport (22.2%) were the three dominant serovars, followed by S. Kentucky (11.1%), S. Umbilo (5.6%), S. Corvallis (5.6%), and S. Albany (5.6%). Overall prevalence in 2800 samples was 0.46% by ISO and 0.61% by VIDAS UP. High relative trueness (RT: 99.79%) of VIDAS UP with a substantial agreement to ISO (κ value: 0.80) indicated its efficiency to accompany ISO to monitor Salmonella in slaughter animals. As the first report to evaluate ISO and VIDAS UP in detecting Salmonella from slaughter sheep and cattle, this current prevalence signifies a risk for public health in red-meat and related products in Turkey. © Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2019.