Etiological characteristics of a foodborne diseases outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis in Suzhou

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the pathogenic cause in a foodborne diseases outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis in a company in Suzhou City， and provide evidence for epidemiological investigation and guidance for clinical treatment.MethodsRelevant specimens were examined for Salmonella， Shigella， Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Furthermore， for the isolated Salmonella enteritidis， a micro broth dilution method was used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing， and pulsed field gel electrophoresis （PFGE） was used for molecular typing.ResultsA total of 44 strains of Salmonella enteritidis were detected from 43 anal swabs of the patients in the outbreak， 7 anal swabs of canteen employees， 31 retained food specimens and 6 environmental specimens. A total of 15 antimicrobial susceptibility testings showed that the 44 strains had the same antimicrobial resistance spectrum， which was 100% resistant to cefazolin， ampicillin， ampicillin/sulbactam， polymyxin E and nalidixic acid， suggesting a multi-drug resistance to more than three antibiotics. PFGE cluster analysis showed that the 44 strains had a 100% of genetic similarity.ConclusionThe outbreak is caused by the consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis. The isolated strains have multi-drug resistance， which could guide appropriate antimicrobial treatment based on the antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Keywords

• salmonella enteritidis
• foodborne diseases outbreak
• drug resistance
• pulsed field gel electrophoresis
• molecular typing