Salmonella spp. in patients suffering from enteric fever and food poisoning in Thamar city, Yemen

Salmonella remains a public health concern around the world, including Yemen although data on its incidence are few. This study determined the incidence of Salmonella infection in 250 enteric fever and 210 food poisoning cases attending Thamar general hospital and Dar Alshafaa medical clinic in 2008. In total, 773 clinical specimens were taken: 250 blood, 187 urine and 336 stool samples. Of the patients with enteric fever and food poisoning, 16.4% and 15.2% respectively were infected with Salmonella. The serovars isolated were: Salmonella Typhi (45.6%), Salmonella Enteritidis (24.4%), Salmonella Paratyphi B (14.4%), Salmonella Typhimurium (13.3%) and Salmonella Paratyphi A (2.2%). The distribution of somatic groups was: D (70%), B (27.7%) and A (2.2%). None of the isolates was resistant to ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, ceftriaxone or moxifloxacin, while 71.1% were resistant to co-trimoxazole, 62.2% to gentamicin, 56.6% to ampicillin and 35.5% to nalidixic acid.