Contamination of Salmonella in retail meats and shrimps in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

From March 2000 to September 2001, 608 samples of retail meat (136 pork, 70 beef, 202 chicken, and 200 ducks) and 110 samples of retail shrimp from six provinces of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam were collected individually and examined for the prevalence of Salmonella. Of the 718 samples examined, 243 (33.8%) were Salmonella positive. Salmonella was isolated from 69.9% of the pork samples, 48.6% of the beef samples, 21.0% of the chicken meat samples, 22.3% of the duck meat samples, and 24.5% of the shrimp samples. From 261 Salmonella isolates, 24 different serovars were identified. The predominant serovars of the isolates were Salmonella Derby, Salmonella Weltevreden, and Salmonella London in pork; Salmonella Weltevreden, Salmonella London, and Salmonella Dessau in beef; Salmonella Emek, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Salmonella Dessau in chicken meat; Salmonella Lexington, Salmonella Derby, and Salmonella Dessau in duck meat; and Salmonella Weltevreden, Salmonella Tennessee, and Salmonella Dessau in shrimps. Salmonella Bovismorbificans, Salmonella Derby, Salmonella Dessau, and Salmonella Weltevreden were the most common serovars in all the samples examined. These results indicate a high rate of contamination by Salmonella in retail meats and shrimps in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.