Multiresistant Salmonella enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- in Europe: a new pandemic strain?

• Published in: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles Vol. 15; no. 22; p. 1
• Main Authors: Hopkins, K L, Kirchner, M, Guerra, B, Granier, S A, Lucarelli, C, Porrero, M C, Jakubczak, A, Threlfall, E J, Mevius, D. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saint-Maurice Centre Europeen pour la Surveillance Epidemiologique du SIDA (European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS) 03-06-2010
• Subjects: 4,5,12-i; antimicrobial resistance genes; Bacteria; carcasses; Drug resistance; emergence; Genes; Genetics; Hogs; identification; infections; molecular characterization; monophasic variant; multidrug-resistance; Pandemics; Salmonella; serotype typhimurium; Europe
• ISSN: 1560-7917; 1025-496X; 1560-7917
• DOI: 10.2807/ese.15.22.19580-en

A marked increase in the prevalence of S. enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- with resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamides and tetracyclines (R-type ASSuT) has been noted in food-borne infections and in pigs/pig meat in several European countries in the last ten years. One hundred and sixteen strains of S. enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- from humans, pigs and pig meat isolated in England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands were further subtyped by phage typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis to investigate the genetic relationship among strains. PCR was performed to identify the fljB flagellar gene and the genes encoding resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamides and tetracyclines. Class 1 and 2 integrase genes were also sought. Results indicate that genetically related serovar 4,[5],12:i:- strains of definitive phage types DT193 and DT120 with ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamide and tetracycline resistance encoded by blaTEM, strA-strB, sul2 and tet(B) have emerged in several European countries, with pigs the likely reservoir of infection. Control measures are urgently needed to reduce spread of infection to humans via the food chain and thereby prevent the possible pandemic spread of serovar 4,[5],12:i:- of R-type ASSuT as occurred with S. Typhimurium DT104 during the 1990s.