Salmonella Agona

Background: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Agona (antigenic formula 1,4,[5],12:f,g,s:[1,2]) is a serovar of the O:4 (B) serogroup. This serovar was first isolated from cattle in Ghana in 1952. Serovar Agona is the 10th most common nontyphoidal Salmonella serotype isolated from human infections in China and is also among the top 20 most frequently reported Salmonella serotypes in the United States.

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

Genetic characteristics: Comparative genomics of 73 of the sequenced strains identified three lineages of serovar Agona that emerged approx. 90 years ago. Serovar Agona has an accessory genome of approx. 1.3 Mb; this accessory genome includes (i) multiple prophages (P2-like, Fels-like, Lambda-like), (ii) antibiotic resistance plasmids (e.g., IncI1 plasmids), (iii) genomic islands, (iv) transposons, and (v) chromosomal integrons. Phylogenetic and pan-genomic analyses that included one of the sequenced serovar Agona strains and other Salmonella serovars concluded that serovar Agona belongs to clade A, according to den Bakker et al. (2011) classification and it contains 133 gene families unique to this serovar.  

Animal reservoir: Multiple animal species, including turkey, swine and cattle are reservoirs of serovar Agona.

Geographical distribution: Serovar Agona has been reported worldwide such as the US, the UK, and China.

Human outbreaks: Numerous outbreaks linked to Salmonella Agona have been associated with a variety of foods, including cereal, meat and fruits. Here we selected some as examples. 

Border Rejections: Multiple border rejections associated with serovar Agona have been reported. Here we selected two as examples.

Recalls: Multiple recalls associated with serovar Agona have been reported. Here we selected two as examples.

¹ This recall was caused by an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Agona associated with infant formula products manufactured by the Lactalis Nutrition Santé group in France.

² This recall was caused by an multistate outbreak of Salmonella serovar Agona infections linked to toasted oats cereal manufactured by Malt-O-Meal. 

Relevant links and references:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13902866/
2. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/fpd.2010.0827?casa_token=r5_H4WYgMn0AAAAA%3A5MU6aDnk2JmPoDATaXDvLO7TXqqWkEc57PaWFHA6ef0LkN2mJecTbfXy73ZKQ06d-5LnTu3a6w
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3739514/
4. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.00591-19#:~:text=Agona%20is%20ranked%20among%20the,and%20different%20animal%2Dbased%20foods.
5. https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003471
6. https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-12-425
7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3175032/
8. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/12/cucumbers-linked-to-multi-country-salmonella-outbreak/
9. https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/salmonella/2011/papayas-8-29-2011.html
10. https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/salmonella/2008/rice-wheat-puff-cereal-5-13-2008.html
11. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23228196_A_multi-country_outbreak_of_Salmonella_Agona_February_-_August_2008
12. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17259878/
13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3371796/
14. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00053368.htm
15. https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/722223
16. https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/notification/559290
17. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/22-december-2017-salmonella-agona-infections-france-en