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Volume 12, Number 2—February 2006
Letter

Fluoroquinolone-resistant Salmonella sp. in Carcasses

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To the Editor: Fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant Salmonella has been isolated from patients in Taiwan (17). Recently, a report further indicated that several patients were infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Schwarzengrund with high-level FQ resistance (1). S. Schwarzengrund has never been isolated from food animals in Taiwan.

We report the isolation of FQ-resistant strains from pork and broiler carcasses sampled from 2000 to 2003: 27 in 2000, 3 in 2001, 4 in 2002, and 2 in 2003. These isolates made up 18.85% of the 191 Salmonella strains obtained from pork and broiler carcasses in the study period. Of these isolates, 16 FQ-resistant S. Schwarzengrund strains were further analyzed to elucidate the possible mechanism of FQ resistance. Ciprofloxacin MIC levels in these isolates ranged from 4 to 16 μg/mL, and all had high-level nalidixic acid resistance (>1,024 μg/mL). All of the 16 investigated strains displayed mutations possibly associated with high-level FQ resistance. The mutation sites included 2 sites (Ser83Phe and Asp87Gly) in the quinolone resistance–determining region (QRDR) of gyrA, 2 sites (Thr57Ser and Ser80Arg) in the QRDR of parC, and 1 site (Ser458Pro) in the QRDR of parE, respectively. Four strains had mutations in the QRDR of gyrA and parC only but not in the QRDR of parE (Table).

In conclusion, high-level FQ resistance was detected in S. Schwarzengrund isolated from pork and chicken in Taiwan. Specific mutation sites of gyrA, parC, and parE were associated with high-level FQ resistance in all the isolates investigated. Our results warrant further investigation of the public health consequences of FQ use in food animals in Taiwan.

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Yu-Chih Wang*, Kuang-Sheng Yeh†, Chao-Chin Chang*, Shih-Ling Hsuan*, and Ter-Hsin Chen*Comments to Author 
Author affiliations: *National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan; †Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

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References

  1. Baucheron  S, Chaslus-Dancla  E, Cloeckaert  A, Chiu  CH, Butaye  P. High-level resistance to fluoroquinolones linked to mutations in gyrA, parC, and parE in Salmonella enterica serovar Schwarzengrund isolates from humans in Taiwan. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2005;49:8623. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
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  3. Chiu  CH, Wu  TL, Su  LH, Chu  C, Chia  JH, Kuo  AJ, The emergence in Taiwan of fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis. N Engl J Med. 2002;346:4139. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Chiu  CH, Wu  TL, Su  LH, Liu  JW, Chu  C. Fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis, Taiwan, 2000–2003. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10:16746.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Hsueh  PR, Teng  LJ, Tseng  SP, Chang  CF, Wan  JH, Yan  JJ, Ciprofloxacin-resistant Salmonella enterica Typhimurium and Choleraesuis from pigs to humans, Taiwan. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10:608.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Huang  TM, Chang  YF, Chang  CF. Detection of mutations in the gyrA gene and class I integron from quinolone-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Choleraesuis isolates in Taiwan. Vet Microbiol. 2004;100:24754. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Ko  WC, Yan  JJ, Yu  WL, Lee  HC, Lee  NY, Wang  LR, A new therapeutic challenge for old pathogens: community-acquired invasive infections caused by ceftriaxone- and ciprofloxacin-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis. Clin Infect Dis. 2005;40:3158. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar

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Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid1202.050629

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Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Ter-Hsin Chen, The Graduate Institute of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuo Kuang Rd, Taichung 402, Taiwan; fax: 886-4-2285-2186

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Page created: February 02, 2012
Page updated: February 02, 2012
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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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