PHENOTYPIC AND GENOTYPIC DISCRIMINATION OF STRAINS OF SALMONELLA SEROTYPE EIMSBUETTEL FROM HUMAN AND ANIMAL SOURCES

One hundred isolates of Salmonella serotype Eimsbuettel from various h uman, animal and environmental sources in six countries were typed and shown to belong to five ribotypes, five biotypes and eight different ribotype/biotype groups, one of which, ribotype 3/biotype 5, was repre sented among isolates from all six countries, Most of the Eimsbuettel isolates from Scotland belonged to ribotype 1/biotype 3, which was the epidemic strain involved in a large outbreak centred in a Glasgow mat ernity hospital in 1986. That strain was also responsible for almost a ll the human infections that occurred in the west of Scotland in the y ears of this study However, isolates from human cases in the east of S cotland belonged to either ribotype 2/biotype 1 or ribotype 3/biotype 5, groups not found in the west of Scotland, Representatives of all th ree ribotype/biotype groups causing human infection in Scotland were a lso found among isolates from poultry or poultry-associated materials, Plasmids were carried by only 14% of isolates and so provided little additional strain discrimination, However, plasmid analysis suggested that Salmonella Eimsbuettel of ribotype 2/biotype 1 had the potential to enter the human food chain in the UK via meat or bone meal, animal feed and poultry.