A total of 80 strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, causing gastroenteritis (G) or bacteraemia (B), and three control strains (C), were subjected to: (i) detection of 14 chromosomally and 1 plasmid-located virulence genes by PCR, (ii) detection of DNA polymorphisms by XbaI and BlnI PFGE, and cluster analysis, (iii) mapping of the 15 screened sequences on macrorestriction profiles and (iv) comparison of the screening and mapping results with data available for other Salmonella strains. Identical virulence genotypes and very similar macrorestriction profiles were shown by most S. Enteritidis strains. However, a number of B strains belonged to genomic types with polymorphisms affecting fragments carrying (SPI2-slyA), (SPI2-slyA-phoP/Q-agfA), (SPI4 and/or stn) and spvC. The information obtained provides the basis for further studies on the genetic background of virulence and the molecular epidemiology of S. Enteritidis.