Epidemiological analysis of Salmonella enterica Enteritidis isolates in Japan by phage-typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis isolates of phage types (PTs) PT1, PT4, PT13a and PT22 derived from sporadic cases and outbreaks of food poisoning in Japan during 1994 and 1995 were analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). While PT1 strains from 5 different outbreaks showed 14 PFGE patterns, 5 PFGE patterns were observed among PT4 isolates from 5 different outbreaks and 6 independent isolates from imported chicken. Interestingly, 8 out of 9 PT4 strains associated with foreign travel to Southeast Asia were indistinguishable in PFGE pattern from 5 independent isolates of imported chicken from England. Although both PT13a and PT22 were first reported in Japan in 1994, PT22 showed various PFGE patterns compared to PT13a which had the same pattern within an outbreak, unlike PT1. These results could indicate that multiple clonal lines of PT1 and PT22 had already spread while relatively fewer clonal lines of PT4 and PT13a might exist in Japan.