The distribution of specific phage types of Salmonella typhimurium in chickens in Australia.

The distribution of specific phage types of Salmonella typhimurium within the Australian chicken industry has been studied and documented on an Australia-wide and state-by-state basis. A total of 1799 strains of S. typhimurium were obtained from Australia-wide sources and phage typing categorized 1498 of these isolates into 30 distinct phage types, with the remaining 301 strains untypable. Five phage types, 6, 26, 31, 135 and 179, accounted for 76% of the total strains typed, with the remaining 24% of strains being distributed among 25 phage types. Of the major phage types, type 31 was restricted to Victoria and Western Australia, but the other types were distributed throughout Australia. In addition, the antibiotic resistance pattern of the various phage types was determined and only five of the 30 phage types showed appreciable levels of resistance.