Salmonella Brandenburg

Background: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Brandenburg (antigenic formula 4,[5],12:l,v:e,n,z₁₅) is a serovar of the O:4 (B) serogroup. Serovar Brandenburg was first reported in 1930 in Germany. Serovar Brandenburg was reported among the 15^th most common serovars in Europe. It is considered an occupational hazard, because farmers can acquire the disease by contact with infected animals. In New Zealand, in 1996, serovar Brandenburg emerged in the sheep population and caused a number of outbreaks.

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

Genetic characteristics: Serovar Brandenburg has been found to be polyphyletic with two lineages identified and two stand-alone singletons that do not cluster with any other Salmonella Brandenburg isolates. Siepker et al. studied Brandenburg isolates from two separate late-term abortion outbreaks in Jersey heifers and found all isolates were of ST type 873 and carried typhoid toxin genes, along with various fimbrial gene clusters, type III secretion system genes, and several pathogenicity islands. Out of 37 Brandenburg isolates collected in Spain, 21 of them exhibited resistance to one or more unrelated drugs, with the most common resistances being to streptomycin, tetracycline, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, encoded by the genes aadA1, tet(A) or tet(B), aphA1, catA1, blaTEM, and dfrA1-sul1-sul3, respectively.

Animal reservoir: Serovar Brandenburg was found in different animal species (pigs, turkey, cattle, horse, deer and sheep). However, in New Zealand, it was predominantly found in ruminants (sheep mostly).

Geographical distribution: Serovar Brandenburg has been reported worldwide.

Human outbreaks: Outbreaks have occurred in different countries since 1963. Below are a few examples.

Year	Location	Associated source	Number of cases
2008	Italy	Restaurant associated	Approx. 200
2001	Japan	Hospital associated¹	-
1992	Switzerland	Not clear, multiple foods and animals were found positive	-
1963	England	Pork products	-

¹ Salmonella Brandenburg and Salmonella Corvallis were both involved.

Animal outbreaks:

Year	Location	Breed	Number of cases
2011	New Zealand	Ewes¹	100~180
1996	New Zealand	Cattle²	NA

¹ Brandenburg infection causes abortion in pregnant ewes and has killed approx. the half of infected ewes.

² Brandenburg infection causes late-term abortions, sickness, and death in cattle, typically occurring during the late dry period (late winter/early spring). In naïve herds, first-calving heifers appear to be the most affected, with up to 35% experiencing abortions. During outbreaks, mortality rates can vary, averaging around 5%.

Border rejections:

Year	Exporting country	Importing country	Associated source	Product category
2022	Poland	Latvia	Chicken leg quarter¹	Poultry meat and poultry meat products
2021	Lithuania	Latvia	Pork chop mass, chilled	Meat and meat products (other than poultry)

¹ Salmonella Brandenburg was found in 2 out of 5 samples.

Recalls:

Year	Location	Recalled food	Type
2021	France	Chorizo made in Spain	Meat and meat products (other than poultry)
2020	Italy	Formaggio Raschera	Milk and milk products

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Salmonella Brandenburg