An outbreak of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Give associated with foodborne illness in the department of Vichada, Colombia, 2015

Introduction: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Give is found in ruminants, pigs, poultry, and aquatic environments, but rarely in humans. In Colombia, this serotype was ranked 11th. in the laboratory surveillance of acute diarrheal disease between 2000 and 2013. Objective: To characterize phenotypic and genotypic isolates of Salmonella related to an outbreak of foodborne Illness in the department Vichada in the fifth epidemiological week of 2015. Materials and methods: Following the Instituto Nacional de Salud method, we tested 37 fecal samples for Salmonella spp. while the sample of canned sardines was processed according to the ISO 6579:2002 Cor.1:2004 standard. The isolates were confirmed by serology and/or real-time PCR, antimicrobial susceptibility tests, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis with the XbaI and BlnI enzymes. Results: All human isolates (11) and that from food (1) were identified as S. Give. The food isolate exhibited tetracycline resistance. PFGE analysis with XbaI grouped ten isolates from samples of human origin in pattern COIN15JEXX01.0005 and the remaining isolates in COIN15JEXX01.0006 with 96.3% similarity. All isolates were confirmed with the BlnI enzyme, and four (three human isolates and the one from food) were matched to the pattern COIN15JEXA26.002 with 95.65% similarity. Conclusion: Our study confirmed that canned sardines were related to the transmission of S. Give in the outbreak, which is the third one caused by this serotype in Colombia.