Isolation of Salmonellas and Enterobacteriaceae from poultry feed in northern Greece

Overall, 208 poultry feed specimens were examined for the presence of Salmo nellae and Enterobacteriaceae. The numbers of poultry feed samples came, 12 9 from feed components and 79 from composite feeds. Specifically, 33 of the 129 samples were meat and bone meals, 30 fish meals, 17 soya, 28 grains an d 21 concentrates (fish meal, meat meal, blood meal, bone meal, vitamins an d minerals). The composite feed samples were: 35 broiler feeds, 29 laying h en feeds and 15 were pellets. Microbiological examination indicated that 24 .2 % of the meat and bone meals, 5.8% of soya, 3.5% of grains and 9.5% of c oncentrated samples were contaminated with Salmonella, while Salmonella was not present in any of the fish meals. The mean number of Enterobacteriacea e varied between 2.0 and 2.2 log(10) cfu/ g. Analysis of the prepared poult ry feed samples indicated that 20.6% of the layers, 20% of the broilers and 6.6% of the pellets were contaminated with Salmonella. The mean number of the Enterobacteriaceae was 2.6 log(10) cfu/g for poultry feed and 1.6 log(1 0) cfu/g for the pellets. No Salmonella enteritidis was found despite the e pidemics in poultry, while 14 other Salmonella serotypes were isolated.