Project description:<i>Salmonella</i> remains the leading cause of reported bacterial foodborne disease in China. Meat products are recognized as one of the major sources of human salmonellosis; however, there is a lack of comprehensive, quantitative data concerning <i>Salmonella</i> contamination of these foods. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence, bacterial load, and antimicrobial resistance profiles of various <i>Salmonella</i> serovars in retail meat across the whole of China. Between July 2011 and June 2016, a total of 807 retail meat samples were collected, covering most provincial capitals in China. Overall, 159 (19.7%) samples tested positive for <i>Salmonella</i>. The highest contamination rate occurred in pork (37.3%, <i>n</i> = 287), followed by beef (16.1%, <i>n</i> = 161), mutton (10.9%, <i>n</i> = 92), dumplings (6.6%, <i>n</i> = 212), and smoked pork (3.6%, <i>n</i> = 55). Most probable number (MPN) analysis revealed that contamination was mainly in the range of 0.3-10 MPN/g among those samples testing positive using this method (<i>n</i> = 83), with eight samples exceeding 110 MPN/g. Among the 456 <i>Salmonella enterica</i> subsp. <i>enterica</i> isolates obtained in this study, 29 serovars and 33 multilocus sequence typing patterns were identified, with <i>S.</i> Derby, <i>S.</i> Typhimurium, <i>S.</i> London, <i>S.</i> Rissen, <i>S.</i> 1,4,[5],12:i:-, <i>S.</i> Weltevreden, and <i>S.</i> Enteritidis being the most prevalent. Among the 218 non-duplicate isolates, 181 (83.0%) were resistant to at least one class of antimicrobials and 128 (58.7%) were resistant to at least three classes. High rates of resistance were observed for tetracycline (65.6%), ampicillin (45.4%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (40.8%), streptomycin (40.4%), and nalidixic acid (35.8%), with the seven most prevalent serovars, except <i>S.</i> Weltevreden, showing higher rates of resistance and multidrug resistance compared with the less dominant serovars. Of note, all <i>S.</i> Indiana isolates exhibited resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins (including ceftriaxone and cefepime), ciprofloxacin, and multiple other classes of antibiotics. Further, two <i>S</i>. 1,4,[5],12:i:- isolates showed resistance to imipenem. This study provides systematic and comprehensive data on the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of various <i>Salmonella</i> serovars isolated from meat products in China, indicating their potential risk to public health.
| S-EPMC6771270 | BioStudies