Background: Salmonella sp. is the main cause of bacterial diarrhoea in Spain. Serotyping, is the most widely applied epidemiological marker. The epidemiological distribution of Salmonella serotypes isolated in Spain is analyzed by statistical methods.
Methods: Salmonella isolates were serotyped according to standard methods and the results were analyzed by the Mantel-Haenszel chi 2 test.
Results and conclusions: The number of isolates (20,595) was 17% higher than those analyzed in the previous five year period (1983-1987), mainly due to an increase in the number of isolates from non human origin. The three most commonly isolated serotypes were Enteritidis, Typhimurium and Virchow. Serotype Enteritidis decreased along the analyzed period, probably because of the effectiveness of the socio-sanitary measures taken by the national and regional administrations such as legal issues (use of commercial mayonnaise in restaurants) and sanitary education.