Genomic Epidemiology of Salmonella enterica Circulating in Surface Waters Used in Agriculture and Aquaculture in Central Mexico
Nayarit Emérita Ballesteros-Nova, Susan Sánchez, J. L. Steffani, Laura Sierra, Zhao Chen, Francisco Alejandro Ruíz-López, Rebecca Bell, Elizabeth Reed, Maria Balkey, María Salud Rubio Lozano, Orbelín Soberanis-Ramos, Francisco Barona‐Gómez, Eric W. Brown, Marc W. Allard, Jianghong Meng, Enrique Jesús Delgado-Suárez
Abstract
Surface waters are heavily used in food production worldwide. Several human pathogens can survive in these waters for long periods and disseminate to food production environments, contaminating our food supply. One of these pathogens is Salmonella enterica, a leading cause of foodborne infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in many countries. This research demonstrates the role of surface waters as a vehicle for the transmission of Salmonella along food production chains. It also shows that some strains circulating in surface waters are very similar to those implicated in human infections and harbor genes that confer resistance to multiple antibiotics, posing a risk to public health. This study contributes to expand our current knowledge on the ecology and epidemiology of Salmonella in surface waters.