JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY,

Data from 8,717 fecal specimens indicate that primary inoculation of xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD) agar may enhance the speed, but not the sensitivity, of isolation of Salmonella enterica over that achieved with Selenite enrichment only. Plating of Selenite broth onto both brilliant green and XLD agar offers no advantage over plating onto XLD alone. Salmonella enterica is an important human pathogen. S. en-terica serotype Typhimurium and S. enterica serotype Enterit-idis are the most common serotypes in Europe and North America at present. In most laboratories where stool samples are cultured for S. enterica, both solid medium and an enteric enrichment broth such as Selenite are inoculated directly with the specimen. It has been suggested that enrichment broth be used only during outbreaks, for screening for asymptomatic carriage, and in other clinically warranted situations (3, 4). We have conducted a study on stool specimens submitted to th