Abstract

A one-day procedure for detecting salmonellae was developed and evaluated with clinical faecal specimens. The procedure was based on the selective retardation of enterobacteria in their migration through a semi-solid enrichment medium. It was shown that a pure or almost pure growth of salmonella could often be obtained within 16 to 24 hours by this method. The culture thus obtained could then be used directly for serological confirmation. The method was rapid, economical, and efficient. Clinical trials indicated an increase of 28% in the frequency of positive isolations of salmonella with this procedure as compared with the conventional multistep cultural procedures with no false-positive results. However, the method was unsatisfactory for detecting Salmonella typhi due to its slow migration through the semi-solid medium.