Poultry meat has been identified as one of the principal foodborne sources of Salmonella. In this preliminary study the prevalence of Salmonella spp. and its typhimurium serovar contamination of broiler carcasses, were determined. Using the rinse test method, numbers of 60 samples, representing 20 broiler flocks, were collected from poultry carcasses after the chilling stage in the processing line at a commercial broiler slaughtering facility in Mashhad, Iran. The presence of Salmonella spp and Salmonella typhimurium in collected samples were assessed by performing the pre-enrichment and enrichment culture, followed by multiplex- PCR assay. The primers were selected from the invA and fliC genes, specific for the detection of Salmonella spp. and Salmonella typhimurium, respectively. In this study 8.3% and 1.6% of poultry carcasses were found to be contaminated with Salmonella spp and Salmonella typhimurium respectively. In order to provide a more accurate profile of the prevalence of Salmonella spp and Salmonella typhimurium in broiler carcasses, it is pertinent to use multiplex -PCR method that could be considered as an appropriate alternative to conventional culture method.

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