ARS | Publication request: PRESENCE OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT GENES IN SALMONELLA ENTERICA SEROTYPE UGANDA ISLOATES FROM 1997-2000

Submitted to: Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 27, 2002
Publication Date: June 27, 2002
Citation: Tankson, J.D., Cray, P.J., Jackson, C.R., Headrick, M. 2002. Presence of antibiotic resistant genes in salmonella enterica serotype uganda isloates from 1997-2000. Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract. P. 37 S-10.

Technical Abstract: In the poultry and meat industry, Salmonella enterica serotype Uganda is rarely isolated in the environment. However, recent reports from veterinary diagnostic laboratories indicate an increased frequency of recovery of S. Uganda. Between 1997 and 2000, the animal arm of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System-Enteric Bacteria (NARMS) at USDA-ARS located in Athens, GA tested a total of 22,051 isolates (2,391, 3,318, 8,508, and 7,834 for 1997 - 2000, respectively) of Salmonella species from various animals (chicken, turkey, cattle, dairy cattle, swine, horse, and dog). Isolates originated from raw products collected from federally inspected slaughter and processing plants, veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and on-farm studies. The percentage of S. Uganda isolated each year was 0.08% (n=2), 0.36% (n=12), 0.54% (n=46), and 0.79% (n=62) for 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, respectively. Although S. Uganda was isolated from cattle, chicken, swine, turkey, dairy cattle, dog, and horse, it was infrequently isolated from chickens (n=6), turkeys (n=8), dairy cattle (n=7), dog (n=1), and horse (n=4), and more often isolated from swine (n=49) and cattle (n=47). Antibiotic resistance testing indicated that of the 122 S. Uganda isolates, 59% (n=72) were pan-susceptible, 4.1% (n=5) were resistant to only one antibiotic, while 37% (n=45) had multiple antibiotic resistant patterns (defined as resistance to 2 or more antimicrobials). Pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), plasmid profiling, probes for int 1, int 2, int 3, int 4, and conserved segment of the integron were used to characterize the isolates. The increased frequency of multiple resistance that has emerged in several Salmonella serotypes, including S. Uganda, may signal the rapid transfer of plasmids or gene cassettes which are capable of acquiring large numbers of resistance genes.