Integrons inSalmonellaKeurmassar, Senegal

To the Editor: Infections caused by Salmonella are the primary cause of foodborne diseases; multidrug resistance to Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica is increasing. The selective pressure created by the widespread use of antimicrobial agents in animals and humans as prophylactic and therapeutic agents may have contributed to the dissemination of resistant bacterial strains. In 2000, the new serovar Keurmassar (35:c:1,2) of S. enterica, was described in Senegal (1). Integrons are efficient gene-capture systems by site-specific recombination and are involved in antimicrobial-drug resistance in gram-negative bacteria (2). Three classes of integrons are well characterized and are involved in antimicrobial resistance. Integrons have been found in different nontyphoidal serovars of S. enterica and recently in serovar Typhi (3).