Abstract
Salmonella is one of the most important food borne zoonotic pathogens. While mainly associated with poultry, it has also been associated with pigs. Compared to the high-income countries, there is much less known on the prevalence of Salmonella in low- and middle-income countries, especially in the Caribbean area. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of Salmonella in pigs and pig meat in Suriname. A total of 53 farms and 53 meat samples were included, and Salmonella was isolated using standard protocols. Strains were subjected to whole genome sequencing. No Salmonella was found on pig meat. Five farms were found to be positive for Salmonella, and a total of eight different strains were obtained. Serotypes were S. Anatum (n = 1), S. Ohio (n = 2), a monophasic variant of S. Typhimurium (n = 3), one S. Brandenburg, and one S. Javaniana. The monophasic variant of S. Typhimurium belonged to the ST34 pandemic clone, and the three strains were very similar. A few resistance genes, located on mobile genetic elements, were found. Several plasmids were detected, though only one was carrying resistance genes. This is the first study on the prevalence of Salmonella in pigs in the Caribbean and that used whole genome sequencing for characterization. The strains were rather susceptible. Local comparison of similar serotypes showed a mainly clonal spread of certain serotypes.
Highlights
Few studies have been performed on Salmonella in the Caribbean region, and those mainly dealt with the prevalence in poultry
Since pig meat can be a major source of Salmonella infections in humans, we investigated the prevalence, as well as the types of Salmonella in pigs in Suriname
Typhimurium ST34 strains isolated in other countries
Summary
Few studies have been performed on Salmonella in the Caribbean region, and those mainly dealt with the prevalence in poultry. Most studies were performed in Trinidad and were mainly on food products, both fresh and ready to eat. The prevalence on those products varied between 0% (mainly ready to eat) and 7%. The few studies in the Caribbean that have been performed on live animals dealt with layer chickens, and apart from one study, all were on eggs. Prevalence on eggs varied from 1 to 13%, and a multicountry study in 2014 showed that 3% of the layer farms were positive. It should be noted that for the different studies, different sampling and isolation methods were used, and as such, comparisons are difficult [1,2]
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