Epidemic patterns of antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum isolates in China during the past half-century

• Published in: Poultry science Vol. 100; no. 3; p. 100894
• Main Authors: Sun, Fan, Li, Xiu, Wang, Yan, Wang, Fan, Ge, Haojie, Pan, Zhiming, Xu, Yaohui, Wang, Yanhong, Jiao, Xin'an, Chen, Xiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 01.03.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; antimicrobial susceptibility; chicken; Chickens; China - epidemiology; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Microbial Sensitivity Tests - veterinary; Microbiology and Food Safety; Poultry Diseases - epidemiology; Poultry Diseases - microbiology; resistance trend; Salmonella enterica - drug effects; Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum; Salmonella Infections, Animal - epidemiology; Salmonella Infections, Animal - microbiology; Serogroup; China; antimicrobial susceptibility; Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum; chicken; resistance trend
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.12.007

Pullorum is a chicken-specific systemic disease caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum (S. Pullorum). This study was carried out to provide basic data for understanding the trends of S. Pullorum. A total of 652 S. Pullorum isolates collected in China during 1962–2019 were examined. Overall, 525 (80.5%) isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic; 280 (42.9%) isolates resisted 3 or more classes of antibiotics and showed an increasing trend until 2015 and then decreased significantly. The most common multidrug-resistant pattern was ampicillin–tetracycline–nalidixic acid (13.6%). After 2008, 6 classes of antibiotic-resistant strains began to appear, and they have been prevalent ever since. In 2014, a strain resistant to 7 antibiotics (ampicillin–cefazolin–streptomycin–tetracycline–sulphonamides–nalidixic acid–nitrofurantoin) was isolated. The highest antimicrobial resistance was observed for nalidixic acid (71.9%), and the lowest was found for cefotaxime, meropenem, amikacin, gentamicin, fosfomycin, and polymyxin (0%). Our findings monitored the prevalence of the resistance of S. Pullorum during the past half-century in China. Continued surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and the rational use of antimicrobials is necessary and important to control the rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance in S. Pullorum.