Identifying emerging trends in antimicrobial resistance using Salmonella surveillance data in poultry in Spain
Investigation article published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
January 1st, 2020
Despite of controls and preventive measures implemented along the food chain, infection with non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) remains one of the major causes of foodborne disease worldwide. Poultry is considered one of the major sources of NTS. This has led to the implementation of monitoring and control programs in many countries (including Spain) to ensure that in poultry flocks infection is kept to a minimum and to allow the identification and monitoring of circulating NTS strains and their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotypes. Here, we investigated the information from the monitoring program for AMR in Salmonella from poultry in Spain in 2011-2017 to assess the diversity in phenotypic resistance and to evaluate the program`s ability to detect multi-resistance patterns and emerging strains in the animal reservoir. Data on serotype and AMR to nine antimicrobials obtained from 3,047 NTS isolates from laying hens (n=1,060), broiler (n=765) and turkey (n=1,222) recovered during controls performed by the official veterinary services and food business operators were analysed using univariate and multivariate methods in order to describe host and serotype-specific profiles. Diversity and prevalence of phenotypic resistance to all but one of the antimicrobials (colistin) was higher in NTS from broiler and turkey compared with laying hen isolates. Certain combinations of serotype and AMR pattern (resistotype) were particularly linked with certain hosts (e.g., susceptible Enteritidis with laying hens, multi-drug resistant (MDR) Derby in turkey, MDR Kentucky in turkey and broiler). The widespread presence of certain serotype-resistotype combinations in certain hosts/years suggested the possible expansion of MDR strains in the animal reservoir. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the analysis of data from monitoring programs at the isolate level to detect emerging threats, and suggests aspects that should be subjected to further research to identify the forces driving the expansion/dominance of certain strains in the food chain. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Alvarez J., Lopez-Perez G., Muellner P., De Frutos C., Ahistrom C., Serrano T., Moreno MA., Duran M., Saez-Llorente JL., Dominguez L. and Ugarte-Ruiz M..


![]() | Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM). |
![]() | Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM). |
![]() | Subdirección General de Sanidad e Higiene Animal y Trazabilidad. Dirección General de la Producción Agraria. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA). |
![]() | Epi-Interactive. |
![]() | Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. College of Veterinary Medicine. University of Minnesota (UMM). |
![]() | Laboratorio Central de Veterinaria (LCV). |
![]() | Empresa de Tecnologías y Servicios Agrarios, S.A. (TRAGSATEC). Grupo Tragsa. |