Occurrence, molecular characterization and antibiotic resistance of spp. isolated from wet rice and flour products in Guangdong, China.

This study explored the prevalence of spp. in wet rice and flour products from Guangdong province, China, the molecular characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of the isolates were identified. Among 249 samples, 100 (40.16%) were positive for spp., including 77 wet rice and 23 wet flour products. Eleven serotypes were characterized among 136 isolates with O2 (n = 32) predominating. Forty-nine MLST patterns were assigned, 15 of which were new. ST4 (n = 17) was the dominant ST, which is previously reported to have caused three deaths; followed by ST7 (n = 15), which is connected to adult infections. All strains presented susceptibility to ampicillin/sulbactam, imipenem, aztreonam and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. The isolates showed maximum resistance to cephalothin, and the resistance and intermediate rates were 91.91% and 3.68%, each. Two strains, croM234A1 and croM283-1, displayed resistance to three antibiotics. High contamination level and predominant number of pathogenic STs of in wet rice and flour products implied a potential risk to public healthiness. This survey could provide comprehensive information for establishing more targeted control methods for spp.