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Background: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Kentucky (antigenic formula 8,20:i:z6) is a serovar of the O:8 (C2-C3) serogroup. This serovar is commonly found in animals in the U.S. (Chickens, turkeys and cows), but rarely is reported in human cases. It is the most common serovar identified in non-clinical non-human, according to CDC, 2011. However, in Europe, serovar Kentucky is found in approx. 1% of the human cases. In Europe and Canada, multidrug resistant strains have been typically found. A highly resistant clone of S. Kentucky (MLST type ST198), has been widespread in Canada and in Europe in travelers from Asia and Africa. This strain shows resistance to β-lactamic antibiotics, carbapenems, quinolones, aminoglycosides, co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), and to azithromycin. Molecular characterization shows a chromosomal genomic island carrying the resistant genes.

Animal reservoir: Serovar Kentucky is typically found in cattle and poultry

Geographical distribution: S. Kentucky is widely distributed. In the U.S. is commonly found in animals and in meat, in Europe causes salmonellosis in humans, in Asia and Africa is also found in humans.

Outbreaks: A number of cases have been reported in Europe in travelers from Asia and Africa; however, no outbreaks with clear epidemiological investigation and source identification have been reported.

Relevant genetic characteristics: Whole genome sequences for two strains of S. Kentucky, one from human (str. CDC 191) and one from chicken breast (str. CVM29188); have been deposited at GenBank as for October, 2013. Genomic characteristics of the sequenced S. Kentucky include i) a genome size ranging from 4.7-5.09 Mb, ii) a mol G+C% ranging from 51.9-52.2, and iii) 4,735-5,295 genes. Salmonella Kentucky str. CVM29188 is a multidrug resistant strain that contains three plasmids of 46, 101, and 146 kb. The two large plasmids are conjugative plasmids that carry antimicrobial resistance genes. The largest plasmid of 146 kb shows the same backbone and virulence genes with virulence plasmids of Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC). Partial sequences of a region in Salmonella Kentucky strain SRC73 are deposited at GenBank. This strain, from Indian spices, is a multidrug resistant strain that contains the resistance genes inserted in the chromosome in a genomic island (Salmonella Genomic Island 1 variant SGI1-K).  

Phylogenetic analysis including completely sequenced S. Kentucky and other Salmonella serovars concluded that S. Kentucky: i) belong to clade A, according to den Bakker et al. (2011) classification, ii) appears to have a single evolutionary origin, and  iii) clusters with host-adapted serovars.

Genome sequences available

  1. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Kentucky str. CDC 191 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/210898/
  2. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Kentucky str. CVM29188 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/444278/
  3. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Kentucky strain SRC73, Salmonella Genomic Island 1 variant SGI1-K genomic sequence: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/AY463797

Relevant links:

  1. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/6/12-1351_article.htm
  2. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099%2813%2970124-5/abstract
  3. http://aac.asm.org/content/56/10/5096.full
  4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2747853/
  5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/AY463797
  6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797678/
  7. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/12/425/abstract
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