Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Plasmid Replicon Typing of Salmonella enterica Serovar Kentucky Isolates Recovered from Broilers.

Salmonella Kentucky has become the predominant serovar recovered from broilers slaughtered in the United States, and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has increased dramatically in this serovar. Relationships between AMR, genotype, and plasmid replicon types were characterized for 600 Salmonella Kentucky isolates recovered from chicken carcasses from 2004 to 2013. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis cluster analysis revealed 112 unique types sharing 79% similarity. Over half of the isolates studies were assigned to two large clusters (unique restriction patterns) consisting of 190 (A) and 151 (B) isolates. The remaining (n = 259) more diverse isolates (110 unique patterns) shall be designated cluster C for discussion. Clusters A had significantly more (p < 0.05) isolates resistant to streptomycin (68.4%) and tetracycline (91.6%) compared to cluster C (50.6% and 40.9% to streptomycin and tetracycline, respectively) or cluster B, which had the least (p < 0.05) resistance (11.9% and 13.2% to streptomycin and tetracycline, respectively). In addition, there was segregation of plasmid replicon types among clusters. Cluster A had significantly more (p < 0.05) replicon type FIB (90.5%) compared to cluster C (37.1%), which had significantly more compared to cluster B (10.6%). Cluster B had significantly more (p < 0.05) replicon type I1 (87.4%) compared to cluster C (68.7%), which had significantly more (p < 0.05) compared to cluster A (32.6%). Cluster C harbored significantly more (p < 0.05) HI2 replicon type (18.1%) compared to clonal clusters A (1.6%) or B (1.3%). The prevalence of plasmid replicon type A/C did not differ among clusters (A, 0.5%; B, 2.0%; C, 0.4%). Both streptomycin and tetracycline resistance were significantly linked (p < 0.05) to plasmid replicon type FIB. In addition, replicon type HI2 was also significantly linked (p < 0.05) to streptomycin resistance. We conclude that the dramatic increase in streptomycin and tetracycline resistance among Salmonella Kentucky isolated from poultry is due to the expansion of strains harboring plasmid replicon types FIB and HI2.