title: Increasing prevalence of hydrogen sulfide negative Salmonella in retail meats.
abstract: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production is considered a typical characteristic of Salmonella and an important marker for Salmonella isolation. In this study, a total of 82 (26%) Salmonella strains were isolated from 113 chicken and 204 pork samples, within which 49 Salmonella strains were H2S positive and 33 were H2S negative. Salmonella enterica serovar Derby was most prevalent in both pork and chicken followed by S. Typhimurium in pork and S. Heidelberg in chicken. Salmonella isolated from pork exhibited a much higher H2S positive rate than those from chicken (68% versus 31%). The most prevalent H2S negative serotypes were S. Derby (40%) and S. Heidelberg (30%) in chicken, and S. Typhimurium (23%) and S. Enteritidis (23%) in pork. spvC, a plasmid-encoded virulence marker, was detected in 51% and 42% of the H2S positive and negative Salmonella respectively. The presence of the two most important serotypes, S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium, as well as a virulence plasmid in H2S negative Salmonella suggested that H2S negative Salmonella is also a significant public health concern. Such finding warrants the development of an improved method for effective coverage of H2S negative Salmonella.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Food Safety and Technology Research Center, Hong Kong PolyU Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, PR China.
authors.forename: Dachuan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention (ICDC), Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Meiying
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, Shangdong, PR China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Food Safety and Technology Research Center, Hong Kong PolyU Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, PR China. Electronic address: sheng.chen@polyu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000378:metabolism*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012475:Salmonella / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013552:Swine; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide
keywords: Chicken; Clinical significance; H(2)S production; Isolation; Pork; Salmonella; XLT4 agar