Prevalence and molecular characterization of typhoidal and non-typhoidal Salmonella isolated from meat and environmental samples of retail shops of Lahore Punjab, Pakistan.

Non-typhoidal Salmonellae are important foodborne bacterial pathogens that can cause bacteremia, gastroenteritis, and subsequent infection. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Salmonella in the live bird market and retail shops of Lahore (Pakistan). A total of 720 samples of chicken meat, chopping board, cages, hands, and transportation vans were collected. Salmonella was recovered from 103 (14.36%) samples. The highest prevalence (33.33%) was found in transportation van samples followed by chicken meat samples (17.26%). In the towns of Lahore, the highest prevalence was found in Samanabad Town (19%) followed by Data Ganj Bakhsh Town (17%) with the lowest in Gulberg Town (6.9%). Salmonella Typhimurium was most common (35.92%) followed by S. Enteritidis (25.24%), S. Dublin (14.56%), S. Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (8.74%), and untyped Salmonella species (15.53%). This was the first baseline study of the prevalence of non-typhoidal Salmonella at the live bird market and retail shops of Lahore. Implementation of appropriate control measures is required at both the human side and poultry food production chain to reduce the burden and transmission of the zoonotic Salmonellae.