Genetic adaptation of Salmonella enterica in human and animal reservoirs in sub-Saharan Africa

Salmonella enterica cause more than 1.2 million annual deaths worldwide, the majority occurring in resource-limited countries. Infections with non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) are typically limited to gastrointestinal disease in industrialized countries. In contrast, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), NTS are the most frequent cause of bacterial bloodstream infections in adults and children, associated with high fatality rates. In both industrialized countries and SSA, the serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis cause the majority of infections. In recent years, Salmonella enterica in SSA have also become increasingly resistant to locally available antibiotics, leading to the substantial burden of NTS infections in Africa.

In industrialised countries, infections with NTS are typically of zoonotic origin with regular food-borne outbreaks. In developing countries, studies on transmission reservoirs are limited but previously it has been found that African Salmonella strains have genetically developed by adapting to different hosts or to the environment.

Our research activities focus on transmission including human, animal and environmental reservoirs, antibiotic resistance and genomic characterisation of circulating Salmonella strains in SSA in order to suggest the implementation of effective control strategies.