Salmonella serovars of human origin identified in Pará State, Brazil from 1991 to 2008

Abstract

Salmonellosis presents a cosmopolitan distribution and affects all age groups, not only in developed countries, but also in developing ones. This study aimed to identify the serovars of Salmonella isolated from human infections occurring in 43 areas of Pará State from 1991 to 2008. Eight hundred and ninety samples of Salmonella isolated in coprocultures and blood cultures were analyzed, including 55 isolations of S. Typhi from feces and blood of symptomatic individuals, simultaneously. The cases of Salmonella infections were distributed into 13 serogroups. The majority of them were in group O:9 (68.1%), and 47 serovars of Salmonella were identified, including S. Typhi (58.9%), S. Enteritidis (5.4%) and S. Saintpaul (2.5%). S. Typhi was the most prevalent (58.9%) among the 47 identified serovars, which demonstrates that typhoid fever is a serious public health problem in northern Brazil and requires increased attention from health agencies regarding epidemiological and environmental surveillance as effective measures for its prevention and control.