Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 59 (1), 15-19, 2006

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Original Article

Characterization of Salmonella Isolated in Okinawa, Japan

Jun Kudaka1,4*, Kiyomasa Itokazu1, Katsuya Taira1, Aiko Iwai2, Miwa Kondo2, Tamaki Susa3 and Masaaki Iwanaga5

1Department of Biological Science, Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment; 2Inspection Section 2, Okinawa Prefectural Chuo Meat Inspection Office, Okinawa 901-1202; 3Department of Life Environment, Okinawa Prefectural Hokubu Health Center, Okinawa 905-0017; and 4Division of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan

(Received August 11, 2005. Accepted November 4, 2005)


*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Ozato 2085 Okinawa 901-1202, Japan. Tel: +81-98-945-0785, Fax: +81-98-945-9366, E-mail: kudakajn@pref.okinawa.jp


SUMMARY: Salmonella enterica strains isolated in Okinawa between 1995 and 2005 were analyzed with respect to their serovars and antimicrobial susceptibility, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to examine their digestion patterns. A total of 1,071 isolates, including 610 from humans, 358 from animal rectal swabs and 103 from meat obtained at grocery stores, were examined. The first 3 most frequent serovars in human isolates were Enteritidis, Weltevreden and Bareilly, together accounting for 65% of the isolates. In isolates from the rectal swabs of laying hens, the predominant serovars were Albany, Saintpaul and Aarhus, accounting for 82% of the isolates. In broilers, 123 of 124 isolates belonged to serovar Infantis, which reflected the high ratio of this serovar in the chicken sold at grocery stores. An antibiogram of human isolates was different from that of broilers and chicken. Chromosomal DNAs of S. Infantis isolated from humans and from the rectal swab of broilers and chickens were examined by PFGE using the restriction enzymes XbaI and BlnI. The digestion patterns of human isolates were not coincident with those of the isolates from the rectal swab of broilers and chicken-meat samples.


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