title: Application of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to laboratory surveillance of small community outbreaks of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.
abstract: Infectious diarrhea syndrome is an important cause of human morbidity around the world, and Salmonella genus remains one of the most prevalent etiology. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium outbreak-associated isolates received by the Laboratory for Enteric Pathogens from N.I.R.D.M.I. "Cantacuzino" for confirmation and typing were analyzed by genomic pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and phage susceptibility testing to establish their relatedness. Both typing methods proved to have similar discriminatory power. The isolates originating from the same outbreak belonged to the same phage type and showed indistinguishable PFGE profiles. The molecular characterization of autochthonal Salmonella enterica Typhimurium outbreak human isolates provided laboratory evidence that epidemiologically related isolates collected from community outbreaks of disease were also genetically related. In order to improve the national and international surveillance of major foodborne pathogens the reference laboratory centers are required to establish and maintain the capacity to perform a wide range of both phenotypic and genotypic methods to support outbreak investigations.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, N.I.R.D.M.I. "Cantacuzino", Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Codruţa-Romaniţa
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Usein
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Palade
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Popovici
authors.forename: Dorina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tatu-Chiţoiu
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciontea
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceciu
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coşman
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Damian
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D006801:Humans; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial