Prevalence of Salmonella serotypes in pigs and evaluation of a rapid, presumptive test for detection of Salmonella in pig faeces.

: Two hundred faecal samples, collected from pigs at a Budapest abattoir, were examined for the presence of salmonellae. Ninety-six isolates, belonging to 7 different serotypes, were obtained. Salmonella derby (70.8%) was the most prevalent serotype. The other serotypes isolated were S. typhimurium (8.33%), S. bredeney (4.16%), S. agona (2.08%), S. infantis (9.22%), S. london (3.12%), and S. panama (2.08%). A modified rapid presumptive test to detect salmonellae in food and food ingredients was described by Hoben et al. (1973). This test medium was evaluated to determine its efficacy in detecting salmonellae in pig faecal samples. The test gave an efficiency of 88.67%. However, the incidence of false positive results was rather high (9.43%). The public health importance of the isolates obtained and the application of the rapid presumptive test at the farm level are discussed.