Supporting evidence for human-to-human transmission a human reservoir of iNTS invasive Salmonella Typhimurium from household samples in Burkina Faso.

Background: Salmonella Typhimurium and Enteritidis are major causes of bloodstream infection in children in sub-Saharan Africa. This study assessed evidence for their zoonotic versus human reservoir.Methods: Index patients were children with blood culture confirmed Salmonella infection recruited during a microbiological surveillance study in Nanoro, rural Burkina between May 2013 and August 2014. After consent, their households were visited. Stool from household members and livestock (pooled samples per species) as well as drinking water were cultured for Salmonella. Isolates with identical serotype obtained from index patient and any household sample were defined as “paired isolates” and assessed for genetic relatedness by multilocus variable number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS).