Prevalence, Serotypes, and Antimicrobial Resistance of from Mink Feces and Feed in the United States.

Nontyphoidal is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses, and concentrated animal production such as commercial mink farming can be a reservoir. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, serotypes, antimicrobial resistance, virulence genes and mobile genetic elements, and phylogenetic characterization of from mink fecal ( = 42) and feed ( = 8) samples at a commercial mink farm in the United States. was detected from 11 (26.2%) fecal and 1 (12.5%) feed samples. Twelve fecal isolates obtained from the positive samples were identified into four serotypes: Uganda (eight isolates; two isolates were obtained from one sample), Reading (two isolates), Heidelberg (one isolate), and Orion (one isolate). Two isolates from the positive feed sample were identified as Cerro. Twelve isolates, one isolate per positive sample, were whole genome sequenced for further characterization. The two Reading isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR) with the classical ASSuT (ampicillin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline) phenotype. Genotypically, the isolates were correspondingly positive, both by polymerase chain reaction and by whole-genome sequencing (WGS), for , (3″)-Ib and (6)-Id, 2, and A). WGS additionally identified trimethoprim resistance gene A8 in Reading, and fosfomycin resistance gene A7 in Heidelberg. All isolates carried -specific multidrug resistance (A/B), gold resistance, and intimin-like virulence genes. In addition, Orion carried copper and silver resistance gene clusters. The two Reading isolates also carried a cytolethal distension toxin (B) gene. Reading isolates belonged to ST412, a predominant sequence type among turkey and human isolates obtained in relation to recent salmonellosis outbreaks in North America. Phylogenetically, Uganda, Heidelberg, and Reading were mostly associated with historic human/clinical, and poultry and swine source isolates. This study indicates that mink production can be a reservoir for foodborne pathogens such as with MDR serovars commonly associated with human illnesses.