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A cluster of 14 cases of Salmonella Urbana cases in Finland, the Czech Republic and Latvia were identified in January-February, 2010. The majority of cases (11) were male and children under 16 years of age. The investigation is currently ongoing and comparison of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles of the isolates suggests that the cases may have a common source of infection.

In summer 2004, an outbreak caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis phage type 13 (S. Enteritidis PT13) was recorded in the Czech Republic. As well being a relatively rare phage type the strain was also ampicillin resistant. Outbreak (n=39) and pre-outbreak isolates (n=13) were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), beta-lactamase gene polymerase chain reaction and plasmid profile. The majority of outbreak isolates (n=37) were identical in XbaI PFGE profile, and two other outbreak isolates each differed from this profile by one or two fragments respectively. The pre-outbreak isolates were uniform in PFGE profile but distinct from the outbreak strain. Ampicillin resistance was confirmed to be encoded by the blaTEM gene located on the TnA transposon. This gene was readily transferable to a S. Enteritidis recipient strain and was associated with the transfer of a 200-kb plasmid. Our results indicate that all S. Enteritidis PT13 tested from 2004 belonged to a single outbreak strain which prior to 2004 had not been recognized in the Czech Republic.

In a collection of 66 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains isolated between 1984 and 2002 in the Czech Republic, genes coding for antibiotic resistance were determined by using specific PCRs. We found that the pentadrug-resistant ACSSuT clone first appeared in the Czech Republic in 1990. A new variant of the aadA gene designated aadA21 is described, the 5' end of which was identical to aadA2 and the 3' end of which was identical to aadA1.

We have shown that plasmid profiling is a sensitive method for further identification of strains of Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis (S. enteritidis) phage type PT21 and to a lesser extent the strains of phage type PT14b. Five and three plasmid types were identified within 33 strains of phage type PT21 and 19 strains of phage type PT14b, respectively. Plasmid types in strains of phage type PT21 showed significant correlation with geographical origin of the strain. In strains of phage type PT14b a single isolate predominated suggesting that the plasmid designated as 'C' can be directly linked with S. enteritidis PT14b strains. Application of IS200 fingerprinting did not reveal any other differences and showed just one copy of IS200 in all the 52 analysed strains. All the strains were tested for antibiotic resistance and only four strains were resistant to ampicillin, cefotaxime, cefuroxime and cotrimoxazole. This indicates that low molecular weight plasmids in Salmonella enteritidis are not responsible for the spread of antibiotic resistance.