**2.1.2** *Salmonella* **from ranch cattle**

The objective of this study (Theis et al 2005, 2006, 2007) was to determine the prevalence, serotypes, and antimicrobial resistance patterns of *Salmonella* isolates recovered from grass fed cattle in North Dakota. A total of 212 cattle (97 calves and 115 cows) originating from 7 cow-calf farms in the ND counties of Billings, Dunn, Mercer and Stark participated in the study. A random sample of at least 30 cattle (15 calves and 15 adult cows) were selected from each of the 7 herds that participated in the study except where less than 30 animals in each category were available; in that case all of them were sampled. One herd had only calves and 2 herds had only adult cows and so 30 animals of one category were sampled from each of these herds. Approximately 20 grams of feces were obtained from the rectum of individual cattle and shipped by Fedex overnight to the department of Veterinary and Microbiological Sciences, at North Dakota State University. The fecal samples were processed within twenty-four hours of their arrival to the laboratory. The fecal samples were cultured in the laboratory using culture methods optimized for the detection of *Salmonella* (Khaitsa et al., 2007a) in fecal specimens. Presumptive *Salmonella* isolates were sent to NVSL in Ames, IA for serotyping. Antimicrobial susceptibility of *Salmonella* isolates was determined using a custom designed panel according to the manufacturer's instructions (Sensititre, Trek Diagnostics, Westlake, Ohio).
