Occurrence of Salmonella spp. in imported eggs into Albania

Seventy-nine shell egg lots imported into Albania during the 2-years period 1996–1997 (69 lots during 1996 and 10 lots during 1997) were investigated for the presence of the Salmonella spp. Salmonella was detected in 1 out of 79 analysed pooled samples (1.26%). The Salmonella strain was isolated only from the egg shell, but not from the liquid part. The isolated strain was biochemically identified by the API 20 E system. Following biochemical identification, it was serotyped with Salmonella monovalent sera at the Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania and was found belonging to the Salmonella group C. The lot in which Salmonella was detected consisted of 275 000 eggs.