Distribution and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Foodborne Salmonella Serovars in Eight Provinces in China from 2007 to 2012 (Except 2009)

One thousand four hundred ninety-one Salmonella isolates recovered from retail foods including chicken, beef, fish, pork, dumplings, and cold dishes in China in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012 were analyzed for distribution of serotype and antimicrobial susceptibility. A total of 129 Salmonella serotypes were detected among 1491 isolates. Salmonella Enteritidis (21.5%), Typhimurium (11.0%), Indiana (10.8%), Thompson (5.4%), Derby (5.1%), Agona (3.8%), and Shubra (3.0%) were the seven most important serotypes in 1491 isolates. For antibiotic susceptibility, except 16 (1.1%) isolates were susceptible to all tested antibiotics, 131 (8.8%) resisted 1-2 and 1344 (90.1%) resisted three or more antibiotics. One thousand forty-six (70.2%) of 1491 Salmonella isolates were identified as multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates, which could resist three or more categories of antibiotics. Resistance to sulfisoxazole (78.1%) was most common among the tested Salmonella, followed by tetracycline (70.6%), trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole (68.0%), and nalidixic acid (63.4%). Resistances to amikacin (20.0%), levofloxacin (18.7%), gatifloxacin (17.9%), ceftriaxone (17.7%), and cefoxitin (13.2%) were less frequently detected. Resistance to fluoroquinolones was most common among Salmonella Shubra and Indiana isolates, while resistance to cephalosporins was frequently detected among Salmonella Thompson isolates. The results highlighted the diversity of Salmonella serotypes and the high prevalence of Salmonella MDR isolates in China. Compared with Salmonella Enteritidis and Typhimurium isolates, the higher fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins resistance rates of some individual serotypes (Salmonella Shubra, Indiana, and Thompson) also provided more information for further study related to fluoroquinolones or cephalosporin-resistant Salmonella.