Salmonella Typhimurium infection in diarrhoeic and non-diarrhoiec dogs in

The incidence of Salmonella in dogs was investigated to assess the risk of possible transmission of Salmonella from dogs to humans. Salmonella was isolated from 17 (3.7%) of 458 faecal samples collected from both diarrhoeic and non-diarrhoeic dogs. The infection rate was 3.2 % (2 of 62) in a Nigerian local breed and 4.1 % (15 of 396) in the Alsatian breed. All the isolates were serotyped as Salmonella Typhimurium. The antibiotic sensitivity pattern of all the Salmonella isolates was determined. They demonstrated a high susceptibility to ciprofl oxacin (100%) and chloramphenicol (89.2%) but they were all (100%) resistant to erythromycin and Cloxacillin. Resistance was also exhibited to tetracycline (70.6%), ampicillin (47.1%), cefuroxime (52.9%), amoxicillin (35.3%), cotrimaxazole (76.5%), augumentin (52.9%), gentamicin (35.3%) and streptomycin (35.3%). Dogs that harbour Salmonella can serve as a source of Salmonella infection to their human companions. They can also disseminate the organism by contaminating the environment thereby exposing the general public and other animals to the risk of infection