The genus Salmonella is a gram negative, rod shaped bacteria facultative anaerobe flagellated bacterium belongs to family of Enterobacteriaceae, which is one of the most common infectious agents in the tropics, especially in areas with poor hygiene. This pathogen causes the most common foodborne disease frequently isolated from food-producing animals that are responsible for zoonotic infections. Salmonella is comprised of two species, Salmonella enterica and bongori, and more than 2600 recognized serovars. However, most human salmonellosis cases are caused by relatively few serovars. Food animals, especially poultry and its products such as meat, eggs and egg products act as an important reservoir of Salmonella, which serves as a potential source of human infection and it has the ability of both vertical and horizontal transmission, which can be transmitted to humans along the farm to fork continuum. In poultry, Salmonella can cause clinical disease or subclinical infection in asymptomatic animals which are often referred to as carriers and it causes great economic losses through substantial morbidity, mortality and drop in egg production. Even when recommended biosafety measures to ensure the health of poultry flocks are in place salmonellosis outbreaks still occur globally, this challenge may be occurred due to the lack of awareness on animal health issues and due to the difficult control of this microorganism. Therefore, knowledge on the basic hygienic principles of poultry farm, occurrence and identification of the disease, the source and point of contamination has imperative for implementation of effective strategies for prevention and control of salmonellosis. The burden of pathogens in poultry multiplication centers is poorly known in Ethiopia. Thus, the aim of this review was to provide information on the importance of salmonellosis with a particular focus on Salmonella infection in poultry farms.
