The aim of this study was to determine the serotyping and antimicrobial resistance of isolated Salmonella from the appearently healthy turkey. A total of 150 (cloacal samples) from living apparently healthy turkeys samples were screened bacteriologically for the occurrence of Salmonella. A total of 6/150 (4%) isolates of Salmonella was recovered. Serotyping revealed two different serotype, S.Enterica subspp Salamae (33.33%) and S.Kentucky.(66.67%). The isolated Salmonella were highly resistant to ampicillin, cefaclor, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid(100%) followed by chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin (83.3%) then gentamycin (66.67%) and azithromycin (33.3%). All isolates showed high sensitivity for imipenem. All strains are multidrug-resistance (MDR). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied on Salmonella isolates to detect resistance gene. Antibacterial resistance genes blaTEM, blaOXA, floR, aadB and qnrA were detected in (100%), (0%), (100%), (100%) and (0%) of tested Salmonella. A combination of genotypic and phenotypic markers can be useful in studying genetic variation among salmonellae populations in turkey production and delineating possible transmission pathways.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that appearently healthy turkeys could be a reservoir for Salmonella resistant to multiple antimicrobials and poses a serious public health threat.