Influence of an enrichment step on Salmonella sp. detection by fluorescent in situ hybridization on pork samples

A 23S rRNA fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) method, using Sal3, was applied as a rapid screening tool for Salmonella sp. detection in samples of slaughtered pigs, and compared with ISO 6579:2002 culture method. FISH was performed for both fresh samples and pre-enriched samples, in order to evaluate the influence of this step in the FISH performance. From the 235 analysed samples, Salmonella sp. was isolated from 39 samples by ISO 6579:2002 culture method, while FISH detected 103 fresh positive samples and 115 pre-enriched positive samples. The results suggest that the use of this technique over fresh pork samples can represent a promising tool for the rapid screening (7 h) of positive-Salmonella sp. samples, allowing the applicability, in due time, of corrective measures to reduce the contamination of other edible pork products.