Abstract

Salmonella infections originating from poultry are one of the major causes of food-borne diseases. To control Salmonella in poultry multifactorial approach is likely to be effective, and genetic resistance of poultry breeds to Salmonella infections may have valuable contribution. Experimental research was conducted to evaluate relative resistance of poultry breeds: Local, Fayoumi and Koekoek to Salmonella Typhimurium from November 2012 to May 2013. Total of 48 chicks were taken and half from each was randomly allocated to treatment and control groups. Treatment groups were orally infected with 10^7-9 S. Typhimurium at two week’s age. Samples were taken from week one post infection and continued every week till week four. Liver, spleen and lung were considered to determine relative bacterial loads and feces were added to identify S. Typhimurium. Highest bacterial load was found in Koekoek (1.95 log CFU/ gram) breeds than Local (0.71 log CFU/ gram) and Fayoumi (1.00 log CFU/ gram) breeds (P<0.05). However, no statistically significant difference of bacterial load between Local and Fayoumi was found. There was significant bacterial load difference among liver (2.01 log CFU/ gram), lung (0.95 log CFU/ gram) and spleen (0.69 log CFU/ gram). According to bacterial growth on XLD, Koekoek was found to be 4.26 times more susceptible to Local breed. There was no statistically significant difference between Local and Fayoumi breeds. In conclusion, local breeds were relatively found to be the most resistant among the three poultry breeds to S. Typhimurium.

Key words: Bacterial load, breed, Ethiopia, isolation, organs, Salmonella Typhimurium.