PULSED-FIELD ELECTROPHORETIC FINGERPRINTING OF SALMONELLA-INDIANA ANDITS EPIDEMIOLOGIC APPLICABILITY

Eight Xba I-generated pulsed-field profile (PFP) types and four subtyp es within one of the most common PFP types have been identified in Sal monella indiana from patients, poultry and human food in England and W ales in the three-year period from January 1994 to December 1996. Two PFP types have predominated, PFP X1 and PFP X2. Although the PFP X1 ty pe was identified throughout the study period, the PFP X2 type was not identified until late 1995, subsequently becoming the most common PFP type in humans in the first six months of 1996 with a significant dis tribution in elderly patients. It is concluded that PFGE can be used i n support of epidemiological investigations for the subdivision of Sal m. indiana. Furthermore, as both conditions and interpretation criteri a can be easily standardized, it is suggested that for many salmonella serotypes, PFGE can provide the basis for a definitive scheme of geno typic subtyping suitable for epidemiological investigations at both a national and international level.