Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Diversity of Salmonella along the Pig Production Chain in Southern Brazil

• Published in: Pathogens (Basel) 2019-10, Vol.8 (4), p.204
• Main Authors: Dos Santos Bersot, Luciano, Quintana Cavicchioli, Valéria, Viana, Cibeli, Konrad Burin, Raquel Cristina, Camargo, Anderson Carlos, de Almeida Nogueira Pinto, José Paes, Nero, Luís Augusto, Destro, Maria Teresa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; Chains; Chloramphenicol; Chloromycetin; Contamination; contamination routes; Drug resistance; Electrophoresis; Farms; Feces; Food chains; Food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food production; Foodborne diseases; Gel electrophoresis; Genetic diversity; High resistance; Hogs; Microbiota; Multidrug resistance; Pathogens; pfge; pig production chain; resistance; Risk reduction; Salmonella; Sulfamethoxazole; Swine production; Trimethoprim; Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
• ISSN: 2076-0817; 2076-0817
• DOI: 10.3390/pathogens8040204

Control of spp. in food production chains is very important to ensure safe foods and minimize the risks of foodborne disease occurrence. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and main contamination sources of spp. in a pig production chain in southern Brazil. Six lots of piglets produced at different farms were tracked until their slaughter, and samples were subjected to spp. detection. The obtained isolates were serotyped, subjected to antimicrobial resistance testing, and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). spp. was detected in 160 (10.2%) samples, and not detected in pig carcasses after final washing or chilling. Among the 210 spp. isolates, Typhimurium was the most prevalent (n = 101) and resistant to at least one antimicrobial. High resistance rates were detected against tetracycline (83.8%), chloramphenicol (54.3%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (33.3%). The isolates that were non-susceptible to three or more classes of antimicrobials (n = 60) were considered multidrug-resistant (MDR), and isolates resistant to up to six of the tested antimicrobials were found. PFGE allowed the identification of genetic diversity and demonstrated that farm environment and feed supply may be sources for the dissemination of spp. along the production chain. The results revealed the sources of contamination in the pig production chain and highlighted the risks of antimicrobial resistance spread.