Dual Emergence in Food and Humans of a Novel Multiresistant Serotype of Salmonella in Senegal: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Serotype 35:c:1,2

Food-borne diseases remain one of the most widespread public health problems in the contemporary world and an important cause of reduced economic productivity despite progress in food science and technology. Throughout the world, hundred of millions of people suffer from communicable diseases caused by contaminated food and water. The problem is more acute in developing countries, where there are an increased number of vulnerable people such as immunocompromised and/or undernourished individuals. Salmonella infections in humans are the primary cause of food-borne disease, resulting in considerable morbidity and occasionally death (1). Serotyping is a useful epidemiological tool to detect outbreaks and emergence of a new serotype (3). Between 29 March and 9 May 2000, the Senegalese National Salmonella and Shigella Reference Laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar received five Salmonella strains for serotyping and determination of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. The first strain was isolated from poultry on 29 March 2000, and the remaining four strains were isolated from human samples. The first human strain was isolated on 30 March 2000 from a blood sample, and the other strains were isolated from stool samples from three patients admitted to the hospital during April and May 2000. All patients were from the same ward.