Nationwide Survey of Salmonella Prevalence in Environmental Dust from Layer Farms in Japan

Abstract

A nationwide survey was conducted to determine Salmonella prevalence in airborne dust from layer farms. Of the 4,090 layer farms in Japan, 203 were surveyed and 48 (23.6%) of these were positive for Salmonella. Salmonella isolation rates were higher in the eastern (24.3%), central (25.6%), western (23.9%), and southern (27.5%) prefectures than they were in the northern (13.3%) prefecture. We recovered 380 Salmonella isolates and identified 34 different Salmonella serovars. Salmonella Infantis was the most prevalent serovar (42 [11.1%] of 380), followed by Salmonella Agona (39 [10.3%] of 380), Salmonella Mbandaka (37 [9.7%] of 380), Salmonella Cerro (32 [8.4%] of 380), Salmonella Thompson (29 [7.6%] of 380), and Salmonella Braenderup (27 [7.1%] of 380). Of the 380 isolates, 273 (71.8%) were resistant to more than one antibiotic. Salmonella Infantis (41 [97.6%] of 42), Salmonella Agona (38 [97.4%] of 39), and Salmonella Mbandaka (34 [91.9%] of 37) showed the highest resistance rates. We found 18 different resistance patterns and the most common (179 [47.1%] of 273) was resistant to dihydrostreptomycin. One of the 13 Salmonella Hadar isolates was resistant to eight antibiotics. To investigate characteristics of Salmonella Agona, Salmonella Infantis, and Salmonella Mbandaka isolates across different prefectures, we performed pulsed-field gel electrophoresis by using XbaI and BlnI. The Salmonella Agona and Salmonella Mbandaka dendrograms were grouped into seven clusters, with 80 and 70% similarity, respectively. Because the Salmonella Infantis dendrogram showed low similarity, there is a possibility of genetic diffusion of this serovar across Japan. This report is the first to describe Salmonella contamination in airborne dust from layer farms in Japan. Our findings should be useful for future Salmonella infection monitoring and control.