Investigating the meat pathway as a source of human Salmonella infections and diarrhea in East Africa
Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium are major causes of bloodstream infection and diarrheal disease in East Africa. However, the sources of human infections, including the role of the meat pathway, are poorly understood. To investigate this, the authors (including several IDReC researchers) of a recent paper in Clinical Infectious Diseases collected cattle, goat, and poultry meat pathway samples in Tanzania and isolated Salmonella.
Isolates were characterized for antimicrobial resistance, virulence genes, and diversity and compared with nontyphoidal Salmonella isolated from humans with bloodstream infection and diarrheal disease in nearby Kenya. The findings suggest that the meat pathway may be an important source of human infection by some Salmonella Enteritidis ST11 in East Africa, but not of human Salmonella Typhimurium ST313 infection.
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