Research Publications (Food Safety)

Uncommon Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis variants with phenotypically identical, incomplete antigenic formula but different molecular serotypes were isolated during 2014‒2022 in different regions of Italy. Most isolates formed rough colonies.

Salmonella enterica serovar Abortusovis is a host-adapted pathogen that causes spontaneous abortion. Salmonella Abortusovis was reported in poultry in 2009 and has since been reported in human infections in New South Wales, Australia. Phylogenomic analysis revealed a clade of 51 closely related isolates from Australia originating in 2004. That clade was genetically distinct from ovine-associated isolates.

Vibrio mimicus caused a seafood-associated outbreak in Florida, USA, in which 4 of 6 case-patients were hospitalized; 1 required intensive care for severe diarrhea. Strains were ctx-negative but carried genes for other virulence determinants (hemolysin, proteases, and types I–IV and VI secretion systems). Cholera toxin–negative bacterial strains can cause cholera-like disease.

Reports of Salmonella enterica I serotype 4,[5],12:i:- infections resistant to ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphamethoxazole, and tetracycline (ASSuT) have been increasing. We analyzed data from 5 national surveillance systems to describe the epidemiology, resistance traits, and genetics of infections with this Salmonella strain in the United States.

We describe the recent detection of 3 Shiga toxin–producing enteroaggregative Escherichia coli O104:H4 isolates from patients and 1 from pork in the Netherlands that were genetically highly similar to isolates from the 2011 large-scale outbreak in Europe. Our findings stress the importance of safeguarding food supply production chains to prevent future outbreaks.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is being applied increasingly to Bacillus cereus group species; however, misinterpretation of WGS results may have severe consequences. We report 3 cases, 1 of which was an outbreak, in which misinterpretation of B. cereus group WGS results hindered communication within public health and industrial laboratories.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) confer resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins, a major class of clinical antimicrobial drugs. We used genomic analysis to investigate whether domestic food animals, retail meat, and pets were reservoirs of ESBL-producing Salmonella for human infection in Canada. Of 30,303 Salmonella isolates tested during 2012–2016, we detected 95 ESBL producers.

In 2020, a new serotype of Vibrio parahaemolyticus O10:K4 emerged and caused several outbreaks and sporadic cases in Guangxi, China. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that those strains are new variants of the sequence type 3 pandemic clone. The new serotype may become dominant, warranting enhanced investigations and surveillance.

After a lull of >20 years, Algeria experienced a cholera outbreak in 2018 that included 291 suspected cases. We found that outbreak isolates were Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype Ogawa from seventh pandemic El Tor sublineage AFR14, which corresponds to a new introduction of cholera into Africa from South Asia.

Vibrio cholerae remains a major public health threat worldwide, causing millions of cholera cases each year. Although much is known about the evolution and pathogenicity of the O1/O139 serogroups of V. cholerae, information is lacking on the molecular epidemiology of non‒O1/O139 strains isolated from patients who have diarrheal illnesses. We performed whole-genome sequence analysis and in vivo infections to investigate characteristics of V.

A. Perrat et al.

E. J. Kerr et al. We report a multistate Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg outbreak in Australia during 2018–2019. Laboratory investigation of cases reported across 5 jurisdictions over a 7-month period could not identify a source of infection but detected indicators of severity and invasiveness. The hospitalization rate of 36% suggested a moderately severe clinical picture.

W. E. Sander et al. Coxiella burnetii, the causative bacterium of the zoonotic disease Q fever, has been documented in many different species. We describe documented turtles that were PCR positive for C. burnetii from multiple locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, USA. Assessing the conservation implications, reservoir potential, and zoonotic risk requires further research.

A. M. Smith et al. We describe the molecular epidemiology of cholera in South Africa during 2018–2020. Vibrio cholerae O1 sequence type (ST) 75 recently emerged and became more prevalent than the V. cholerae O1 biotype El Tor pandemic clone. ST75 isolates were found across large spatial and temporal distances, suggesting local ST75 spread.

J. Ahmed-Bentley et al. Abstract We report a case of human infection with a Brucella canis isolate in an adult in Canada who was receiving a biologic immunomodulating medication. We detail subsequent investigations, which showed that 17 clinical microbiology staff had high-risk exposures to the isolate, 1 of whom had a positive result for B. canis.

L. Huber et al. Abstract

M. van Dijk et al. Brucella canis had not been isolated in the Netherlands until November 2016, when it was isolated from a dog imported from Romania. Including this case, 16 suspected cases were notified to the authorities during the following 25 months. Of these 16 dogs, 10 were seropositive; tracking investigations found another 8 seropositive littermates. All seropositive animals were rescue dogs imported from Eastern Europe. B.

R. A. Glabman et al. We describe the isolation of atypical Brucella inopinata–like species and unique clinicopathologic findings in 2 adult marine toads (Rhinella marina), including oophoritis in 1 toad. These findings represent a novel emerging disease in toads and a possible zoonotic pathogen.

D. Nonghanphithak et al. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB), pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (pre-XDR TB), and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) complicate disease control. We analyzed whole-genome sequence data for 579 phenotypically drug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates (28% of available MDR/pre-XDR and all culturable XDR TB isolates collected in Thailand during 2014–2017). Most isolates were from lineage 2 (n = 482; 83.2%).

O. U. Lawal et al. Staphylococcus saprophyticus is a primary cause of community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) in young women. S. saprophyticus colonizes humans and animals but basic features of its molecular epidemiology are undetermined. We conducted a phylogenomic analysis of 321 S. saprophyticus isolates collected from human UTIs worldwide during 1997–2017 and 232 isolates from human UTIs and the pig-processing chain in a confined region during 2016–2017.

P. R. Randad et al. Transmission of livestock-associated Staphylococcus aureus clonal complex 9 (LA-SA CC9) between industrial hog operation (IHO) pigs and humans in the United States is poorly understood. We analyzed whole-genome sequences from 32 international S. aureus CC9 isolates and 49 LA-SA CC9 isolates from IHO pigs and humans who work on or live near IHOs in 10 pig-producing counties in North Carolina, USA.

S. Irfan et al. We evaluated Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi strains isolated from all body sites in Pakistan during 2013–2018. Despite an increase in overall number of localized, extensively drug-resistant Salmonella Typhi in organ infections during 2018, there was no increase in the proportion of such isolates in comparison with non–extensively drug-resistant isolates.

S. Octavia et al. Global travel has led to intermittent importation of multidrug-resistant-Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi into industrialized countries. We detected azithromycin-resistant Salmonella Typhi in Singapore, of which 2 isolates were likely locally acquired. Ongoing vigilance and surveillance to minimize the public health risk for this serious pathogen is needed.

M. Nüesch-Inderbinen et al. A nationwide outbreak of human listeriosis in Switzerland was traced to persisting environmental contamination of a cheese dairy with Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b, sequence type 6, cluster type 7488. Whole-genome sequencing was used to match clinical isolates to a cheese sample and to samples from numerous sites within the production environment.

S. Breurec et al. Four cholera outbreaks were reported in the Central African Republic during 1997–2016. We show that the outbreak isolates were Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype Inaba from 3 seventh pandemic El Tor sublineages originating from West Africa (sublineages T7 and T9) or the African Great Lakes Region (T10).