Distribution of Phage Types of Non-typhoidal Salmonella Serovars inthe Slovak Republic in 2000–2003

Overview

Salmonellae of non-typhoidal serovars are the most important pathogens involved in foodbornediseases in humans all over the world. The incidence rates of two major Salmonella serovars, i.e. S.enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium),in the Slovak Republic in 2000–2003 are given. Over the period studied, 829 S. Enteritidis strains and258 S. Typhimurium strains isolated from patients with salmonellosis were investigated in theNational Reference Centre for Salmonella Phage Typing. The S. Enteritidis strains were differentiatedinto 16 phage types, with phage type 8 being dominant since found in 73.6 %, 53.8 %, 62.8 % and45.6 % of strains in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, respectively. The following most frequent phage typeswere 4 and 13a. New phage types, i.e. 15, 5, 25 and 14b, were identified from salmonellosis outbreaksin 2003. The S. Typhimurium strains were also differentiated into 16 phage types with phage typeDT104 strains being prevalent and showing an increase from 7.4 % in 2000 to 44.6 % in 2003; 54.2 %of themwere resistant and of R type ACSSut. The second most frequent phage type in 2000–2001 was2b in 2003 DT41. The frequency of the other phage types was not epidemiologically significant.

Key words:
Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis – Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium –phage typing – phage type – non-typhoidal Salmonella serovars.