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This work summarizes the informations regarding 67,767 Salmonella strains isolated in continental France from 1981 to 1983. The frequencies of O groups, of subspecies, of the 62 serotypes most frequently isolated among the 376 identified are reported. The graphs representing the annual occurrence of some serotypes show that some serotypes are considerably expanding, some disappeared after being quite frequent, and some show marked fluctuations by successive waves.

38,343 strains of Salmonella (34,138 isolated in Metropolitan France) were examined at the national Salmonella Centre (Pasteur Institute, Paris), during the years 1973 to 1976. The origins are scheduled in this report according to the serotypes classified in alphabetical order with O groups of Kauffmann-White schema. Incidence of II and IV subgenera is low. One serotype of the sub-genus III, S. arizonae 18 : z4, z32 : has appeared in poultry plants, specially in turkeys. The most frequent serotype remains S. typhi-murium, followed by S. wien (appeared in France in 1970), S. saint-paul the numbers of which increase. S. panama is at 4th place. S. isangi and S. ordonez, probably imported from West Africa are in expansion. 29 new serotypes, 5 of which from France, have been discovered.

The sources of 43,359 Salmonella strains isolated in continental France from 1977 to 1979 (inclusive) are given for every serotype listed in alphabetical order in each 0 group of Kauffmann-White schema. Isolation of S. Arizonae 18:z4,z32:- is more and more frequent from poultry. However, this serotype was not isolated from mammals. S. hadar and S. saint-paul are now quite frequently isolated from poultry and humans. S. gold-coast -- a man-associated serotype -- had an increasing incidence since 1978. The incidence of S. agona increased since 1975. S. kedougou (never encountered in France before 1975) was frequently isolated from humans in 1978. This serotype seems to have secondarily contaminated animals and the environment. S. wien, which was quite frequent in the period 1971-1975, has almost disappeared since. The incidence of S. panama was high in the period 1961-1971, then lower in 1972-1974. In 1978-1979 the incidence of S. panama rose dramatically. The incidence of other Salmonella serotypes seems unchanged.

Salmonella typhimurium is the most often encountered serotype. The need for numerous epidemiological markers seems particularly obvious. The purpose of this study was to extend the biotyping patterns previously published and usually restricted to some biochemical characters. 192 strains of S. typhimurium, selected as representative of 6 continental French regions and 4 ecological sources, were studied by means of 203 tests, including the assimilation of 147 carbon substrates. An analysis of the results showed that 52 biochemical or nutritional tests could be used as markers during the survey of an epidemic. In addition, 18 of these tests permitted to delineate three polythetic phenons, in which the ecological origin of strains was statistically different. The identification of these phenotypes, before testing markers, could be a useful first step for the investigation of studied strains.