Contribution of the meat pathway to human nontyphoidal Salmonella diarrhea and bloodstream infections in East Africa

Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium are major causes of diarrheal disease and bloodstream infection in East Africa. Sources of human infection, including the role of the meat pathway, are poorly understood. We collected cattle, goat, and poultry meat pathway samples from December 2015 through August 2017 in northern Tanzania and isolated Salmonella using standard methods. Meat pathway isolates were compared with human bloodstream and diarrheal disease nontyphoidal Salmonella isolated from central and western Kenya, from 2007 through 2017 by core genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST). Isolates were also characterized for antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes, and diversity.