Salmonella spp in Birds from Jamaica

The present work was conducted to study the presence of Salmonella and its IgY antibodies in birds from Jamaica. The IgY fraction was isolated from the egg yolks of a variety of birds including chickens, quails, geese and pigeons by the chloroform-polyethylene glycol method. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test for anti-Salmonella antibodies. High significant levels of antibodies were detected in three serovars and Salmonella species, namely Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Montevideo and Salmonella Yeerongpilly. This preliminary study from Jamaica demonstrates the presence of high levels of anti-Salmonella antibodies that warrants further studies with larger number of samples, since there are large amounts of consumption of eggs from these bird species by the general population in the country.