Panamanian forest mammals as carriers of Salmonella.

Enteric bacteria pathogenic to man were sought in a total of 974 forest mammals collected from a variety of sites in rural and jungle areas of Panamá. The highest incidence of infection among the mammals was observed during the Panamanian dry season, which normally extends from January through April. A minimum of 10 Salmonella serotypes including, three of the Arizona group and Ewardsiella tarda, was isolated. Opossums of the genera Philander, 11 of 54 (20.1%), and Didelphis, 12 of 102 (11.8%) demonstrated high infection rates. One sloth of the genus Choloepus and specimens of two genera of rodents also were infected to varying degrees: 1(11.1%) of 9 Choloepus, 8 (1.1%) of 704 Proechimys and 1 (16.7%) of 6 Diplomys.