Prevalence of the Virulence Plasmid in Salmonella Typhimurium Isolates from Pigs

Abstract

To determine the prevalence of the virulence plasmid in Salmonella Typhimurium isolates from pigs in Japan, a total of 106 porcine isolates were subjected to PCR amplification for the detection of the virulence plasmid. Out of the isolates of S. Typhimurium, 38 (35.8%) harbored the virulence plasmid. The presence of the virulence plasmid was widely observed in the isolates from systemically infected pigs (92.0%, 23/25), compared with diarrheic (18.8%, 12/64) and apparently healthy pigs (17.6%, 3/17) (P<0.01).