Rapid serological identification for monophasic Salmonella serovars with a hin gene-specific polymerase chain reaction

Salmonellosis is one of the most common food born diseases in Korea. However, it takes more than 8 days and many expensive antiserums are used for the identification of Salmonella serovars since the microorganism easily undergoes phase variation. According to the data that 65.5% of Salmonella isolates in 2000-2004 year had monophasic flagella, we have developed a rapid serological identification method using a hin gene-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for monophasic Salmonella isolates that does not require the time-consuming phase conversion experiments. Using our new method, 'hin specific PCR-based serological test', we could identify serovars of monophasic Salmonella in 4 days. For the purpose of rapid identification of salmonella serovars collected from outbreaks and sporadic cases, hin specific PCR-based serological tests will be a fast and efficient method.