Clonal relationship among Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis involved in foodborne outbreaks in Southern Brazil

The aim of the present study was to investigate the clonal relationship among Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis involved in foodborne outbreaks occurred in Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), Southern Brazil. S. enterica ser. Enteritidis (n = 152) isolated from food involved in salmonellosis were analyzed by PCR-ribotyping and PFGE. To confirm the clonal relationship, a PCR-ribotyping amplicon was sequenced in 26 randomly chosen S. enterica ser. Enteritidis typed. The results indicate that a specific strain of S. enterica ser. Enteritidis or a very closely related clone of this microorganism was involved in salmonellosis outbreaks occurred in RS.