Salmonella Mikawasima

Background: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Mikawasima (antigenic formula 6,7,14:y:e,n,z₁₅) is a serovar of the O:7 (C₁) serogroup. While this serovar is very rare and hardly reported among human cases, it has caused two outbreaks (one in Norway and one in the UK). In the US there are no reports of S. Mikawasima in humans and animals in the last 10 years. In Malaysia, S. Mikawasima was reported from fish and from aquaculture systems; the reported strains showed resistant to up to four antibiotics (chloramphenicol, clindamycin, rifampicin, and tetracycline).

NCBI PD link for serovar Mikawasima: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pathogens/isolates/#(taxgroup_name:%22Salmonella%20enterica%22)%20AND%20computed_types:(%22serotype=Mikawasima%22)

Genetic characteristics: According to Novak et al. (2024), all the outbreak-related isolates (n=75) were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, third-generation cephalosporins (36% to ceftriaxone and 47% to ceftazidime) and 40% of the isolates exhibited extended-spectrum β-lactamase production. In addition, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis revealed that three outbreak-related strains have the same resistance gene profile [bla_TEM-1B, aac(6')-Iaa, aac(6')-Im, and aph(2'')-Ib)].

Animal reservoir: Reptiles and fish have been reported as a reservoir.

Geographical distribution: Serovar Mikawasima appears to be frequently found in Europe but occasionally in other continents such as Asia and North America.

Human outbreaks:

Year	Location	Associated source	Number of cases
2020-2021	Croatia	Unknown	27
2019	Europe: multi-country	Unknown	192
2018	Europe: multi-country	Unknown	50
2013	UK	Unknown	75
2012	Norway	Unknown	13
1992	UK	Doner kebab	9

Border rejections: There have been no recent border rejections linked to this serovar.

Recalls:

Year	Location	Recalled food	Type
2020	Norway	Organic Little gem lettuce from Spain	Fruits and vegetables

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Salmonella Mikawasima