Emergence, Dissemination and Antimicrobial Resistance of the Main Poultry-Associated Salmonella Serovars in Brazil

Abstract

<i>Salmonella</i> infects poultry, and it is also a human foodborne pathogen. This bacterial genus is classified into several serovars/lineages, some of them showing high antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The ease of <i>Salmonella</i> transmission in farms, slaughterhouses, and eggs industries has made controlling it a real challenge in the poultry-production chains. This review describes the emergence, dissemination, and AMR of the main <i>Salmonella</i> serovars and lineages detected in Brazilian poultry. It is reported that few serovars emerged and have been more widely disseminated in breeders, broilers, and layers in the last 70 years. <i>Salmonella</i> Gallinarum was the first to spread on the farms, remaining as a concerning poultry pathogen. <i>Salmonella</i> Typhimurium and Enteritidis were also largely detected in poultry and foods (eggs, chicken, turkey), being associated with several human foodborne outbreaks. <i>Salmonella</i> Heidelberg and Minnesota have been more widely spread in recent years, resulting in frequent chicken/turkey meat contamination. A few more serovars (Infantis, Newport, Hadar, Senftenberg, Schwarzengrund, and Mbandaka, among others) were also detected, but less frequently and usually in specific poultry-production regions. AMR has been identified in most isolates, highlighting multi-drug resistance in specific poultry lineages from the serovars Typhimurium, Heidelberg, and Minnesota. Epidemiological studies are necessary to trace and control this pathogen in Brazilian commercial poultry production chains.