ARS | Publication request: Genomic investigation of Salmonella enterica sequences associated with long-term colonization of the bovine gut

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 5, 2012
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica is a leading cause of food and waterborne infections globally in both humans and livestock with an estimated 93 million annual human infections caused by nontyphoidal S. enterica alone. However, some serotypes within this species are known to cause mild infections or asymptomatic colonization of mammalian hosts. S. enterica serotype Kentucky is an occasional pathogen of humans and animals and can be isolated from water and both animal and non-animal agricultural products. An eight year microbiological analyses of dairy cattle from a single farm in Pennsylvania demonstrated endemicity of S. enterica serotype Kentucky among an asymptomatic herd and in the surrounding environment. This period of endemicity was preceded by sporadic and ephemeral colonization by this serotype. Comparative genomic analyses of pre-epidemic and intra-epidemic isolates of this serotype demonstrated polymorphisms in several regions associated with metazoan colonization by S. enterica serotype Typhimurium and other members of the Enterobacteriaceae, suggesting the long-term colonization by these Salmonella strains is due to mutations in these protein coding genes. Further research will determine which mutations are consistently observed in all S. enterica serotype Kentucky isolated during this period of Salmonella endemicity with the aim of developing methods of pathogen colonization prediction and interventions among livestock.