isolation and identification of salmonella typhimurium in retail meat sources by multiplex polymerase chain reaction

Background: salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium is considered one of the most important emerging food-borne pathogens in public health worldwide. meat is commonly known as the food sources responsible for the salmonellosis outbreak. methods: overall, 141 different meat samples were randomly collected from local markets. the conventional culture method was performed to isolate salmonella spp., and then, using two pairs of primers, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay was employed to confirm the identification of isolated colonies as salmonella spp. and determine serovars as typhimurium. results: out of 141 samples, 48 (34%) ones were presumptively isolated as salmonella on the salmonella agar medium and distributed as 24%, 23%, and 42% among veal, lamb, and chicken meat, respectively. however, the results of multiplex pcr showed that 4.9% of chicken meat was merely identified as s. typhimurium. in general, s. typhimurium isolates were found only in chicken meat. conclusion: salmonella typhimurium isolates were only observed in the chicken meat. multiplex pcr was found to be a specific and rapid alternative method for the identification of various types of salmonella.