Abstract
The Salmonella enterica subspecies serovar Enteritidis is the one
of main serovars isolated from human patients with food poisoning and
poultry without clinical signs. Consumption of poultry products
contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis is a common source of
human salmonellosis. This study was aimed to determine the genetic
relationships between Salmonella Enteritidis strains isolated
from human patients and those isolated from poultry sources using
whole-genome sequencing analysis. Seven of multi-drug resistant (MDR)
strains of Salmonella Enteritidis were isolated from 234 retail
chicken meats, internal organs of chicken, and straw bedding samples at
chicken farms. Whole genome sequences of the MDR strains were determined
using the Oxford Nanopore sequencing and compared with available whole
genome sequences of the Salmonella Enteritidis strains previously
isolated in Korea. Single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis of the whole
genomes showed that all MDR Salmonella Enteritidis strains were
genetically close and related to the FORC_019 strain isolated from
human blood in 2015 in Korea. All of the MDR Salmonella
Enteritidis strains contained a 110 kb of plasmid, and comparative
plasmid analysis showed that all of the MDR Salmonella
Enteritidis strains carried a novel fusion plasmid with genes coding
virulence factors and antibiotic resistance proteins. The almost
identical plasmid, with an extra 7.5-kb insertion sequence was also
found in the FORC_019 strain. These results suggested that the single
genetic lineage of MDR Salmonella Enteritidis that can cause
salmonellosis in human is currently contaminating the Korean poultry
industry.