Among 25526 recorded isolates of salmonellae, 5086 isolated from humans and 20440 from animals in 1994 and 1997 in France, the antibiotic resistance phenotype was determined for all human and 5336 animal isolates. In Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium, one of the two most frequently isolated serovars from humans as well as animals, resistance to ampicillin was observed in 61% of both human and animal isolates in 1994 and in 73% of human and 53% of animal isolates in 1997. During these periods, resistance to co-amoxiclav was between 45% and 66% for both types of isolate. Resistance to ampicillin was associated with resistance to streptomycin, spectinomycin, sulphonamide, tetracycline and chloramphenicol in over 70% of isolates. Resistance to ampicillin as well as co-amoxiclav never exceeded 7% in Salmonella enteritidis. While Salmonella hadar was practically absent among the human isolates in 1994, this serovar was the third most frequent in 1997, and at that time 92% were resistant to nalidixic acid. Among the animal S. hadar isolates, the prevalence of resistance to nalidixic acid increased from 3% in 1994 to 72% in 1997. None of these isolates manifested high-level resistance to ofloxacin. The levels of resistance to aminoglycosides (< or =3%) and trimethoprim-suphamethoxazole (< or =14%) remained practically unchanged in all three serovars. The resistance markers of 463 ampicillin-resistant S. typhimurium isolated in 1997 were determined. Among the 24 phenotypes observed, six multiresistance phenotypes, representing 82% of these isolates (as compared with 80% in 1994), were associated with the PSE-1 gene typically found in the lysotype DT104 of this serovar.