Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) has been the major cause of the food-borne salmonellosis pandemic in humans over the last 20 years, during which contaminated hen's eggs were the most important vehicle of the infection. Eggs can be contaminated on the outer shell surface and internally. Internal contamination can be the result of penetration through the eggshell or by direct contamination of egg contents before oviposition, originating from infection of the reproductive organs. Once inside the egg, the bacteria need to cope with antimicrobial factors in the albumen and vitelline membrane before migration to the yolk can occur. It would seem that serotype Enteritidis has intrinsic characteristics that allow an epidemiological association with hen eggs that are still undefined. There are indications that SE survives the attacks with the help of antimicrobial molecules during the formation of the egg in the hen's oviduct and inside the egg. This appears to require a unique combination of genes encoding for improved cell wall protection and repairing cellular and molecular damage, among others.

Laying hens of three different ages were experimentally infected with a strain of Salmonella enteritidis by either oral inoculation or contact transmission. Total egg production was depressed in exposed hens of all three age groups. Persistent intestinal shedding was observed in a small number of hens. Eggs with contents contaminated by S. enteritidis were produced by exposed hens at a high frequency, but only during a fairly short period of time that extended through approximately 1 week postinoculation for older hens and through 2 weeks for younger hens. S. enteritidis was recovered from whole yolks and albumen of these eggs at similar frequencies, but not from the content of yolks. Eggs with contaminated shells were also produced, but at a lower frequency. Contaminated eggs were produced by orally inoculated and contact-exposed hens at similar frequencies. S. enteritidis was not isolated from the contents of eggs laid by hens infected with other S. enteritidis strains.