Salmonellosis Surveillance and Epidemiological Trend in Taiwan

Abstract

Nontyphoidal Salmonella is a prevalent foodborne pathogen in Taiwan. A national Salmonella reference laboratory was established in 2004 in Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, for performing serotyping, PFGE genotyping, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for isolates collected from hospitals across the country to investigate the epidemiological trend and to build a Salmonella fingerprint database for disease surveillance. In 2004-2013, a total of 20,370 Salmonella isolates were characterized. The isolates belonged to 100 serovars and Enteritidis (accounting for 28.1%), Typhimurium (23.8%), Stanley (7.8%), Newport (6.8%), and Albany (3.7%) were the first 5 most commonly isolated serovars. The profile of serovar distribution suggested that human salmonellosis in Taiwan was caused by Salmonella from numerous host reservoirs. A total of 3,087 PFGE patterns were identified in the 20,370 isolates. A database with the PFGE patterns is an important information platform for the use in predicting Salmonella serotypes, tracing back animal reservoirs of Salmonella strains (multidrug resistant Salmonella strains in particular), performing real-time disease surveillance, and investigating domestic and international foodborne salmonellosis outbreaks. Source management is the most effective control measure for foodborne diseases. For the control of salmonellosis, the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and Bureau of Animal and Plant Inspection and Quarantine have to work together on the disease surveillance and elimination of Salmonella contamination in food and agricultural products.