Antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella enterica isolates from apparently healthy and clinically ill finishing pigs in Spain

This study was the first conducted in Spain to evaluate the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance and multi-resistance in Salmonella isolates recovered from finishing pigs from Spanish swine farms distributed over the whole country. For this purpose, 290 Salmonella isolates recovered from apparently healthy finishing pigs in a farm-based cross-sectional study and 192 Salmonella isolates recovered from faecal samples of finishing pigs suffering from diarrhoea were investigated. Resistance to a panel of 17 antimicrobials was determined using a broth microdilution technique. Resistance was a common finding and was detected in 90.3% of the Salmonella isolates from apparently healthy finishing pigs and 95.3% of the Salmonella isolates from clinically diseased finishing pigs. Resistance was particularly high among isolates of serogroup B and serovars Typhimurium and its monophasic variant S. 4,5,12:i:-. Higher frequencies of resistance were found to tetracycline, sulphamethoxazole, streptomycin, spectinomycin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. Less than 10% of the isolates were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, neomycin, cephalotin, apramycin and gentamicin. Resistance to ciprofloxacin, colistin and ceftiofur was rare (under 1%). Multi-resistance, defined as resistance to four or more drugs, was detected in more than 50% of the isolates. Although multi-resistance was particularly frequent among isolates of S. Typhimurium, it was also high among other serovars as Bredeney and the S. Typhimurium monophasic variant. 4,5,12:i:-.