Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance in Salmonella enterica Isolated from Pork, Chicken Meat, and Humans in Northeastern Thailand

A total of 221 Salmonella enterica from raw pork (n=64), raw chicken (n=80), and humans (n=77) were characterized for antimicrobial resistance phenotypes and genotypes and virulence plasmid-associated genes. Most Salmonella isolates (95.9%) were multidrug resistant and exhibited high resistance to sulfamethoxazole (96.4%), streptomycin (93.2%), spectinomycin (76.5%), tetracycline (73.3%), ampicillin (70.1%), and trimethoprim (60.2%). Forty-one percent of all isolates were intI1-positive, of which 60% carried class 1 integrons with variable region ranging in size from 0.2 to 2.0 kb. Six integron profiles (IP-I to IP-VI) were defined. The dfrA12-aadA2 cassette was most prevalent (66.7%). Class 1 integrons with the dfrA12-aadA2 cassette in five pork isolates could be horizontally transferred. Three pork isolates carried Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1), of which a serovar Anatum harbored SGI1 gene cluster located between thdF and int2. Two single-point mutations (i.e., G-259-T and C-248-T) in gyrA leading to Asp-87-Tyr and Ser-83-Phe substitutions in GyrA, respectively, were detected. Of all plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes tested, only qnrS (4.1%) and qnrB (1.8%) were found. The virulence plasmid-associated genes including spvC, pefA, and rck were identified in 8.1%, 1.8%, and 1.4% of all Salmonella isolates, respectively.