Poultry meat as a source of human salmonellosis in England and Wales

In England and Wales human salmonellosis is a major public health problem and, although mortality is low, the disease has important social and economic consequences. All surveillance indicators suggest that an epidemic of unprecedented proportions is occurring. Between 1081 and 1980 the number of strains received for serotyping by the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) Division of Enteric Pathogens has increased by 60% (Table 1). This is predominantly due to strains of Salmonella typhimurium and S. enteritidis . Smaller but significant increases have occurred in the numbers of S. virchow and S. Stanley . With the exception of the latter serotype, which seems to come from a bovine reservoir, the indications aro that poultry is the main source of the increase in infections.