| Abstrakt: |
AbstractSalmonellais a complex bacterial group with more than 2400 serovars widely distributed in nature; they are considered zoonotic because they can infect a variety of animals and be transmitted to humans. Usually, they cause alimentary acquired diseases such as gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and others that can lead to severe complications and death. Serotyping is useful to differentiate among Salmonella, because it shows an important correlation with their clinical and epidemiological patterns; consequently, it is of high value for public health, animal health, agriculture, and industry. To characterize all known Kauffmann–White Salmonellaserovars, over 250 antisera are required. Due to this and to high prices antisera, many laboratories worldwide have limitations in establishing Salmonellasurveillance. Therefore, we developed and validated a Salmonellaflagella microagglutination test (SALMATcor) that significantly reduces laboratory requirements of antisera. SALMATcoris based on scaling down, by fivefold, the antigen:antiserum volumes actually required for the reference method: flagella standard tube agglutination technique (STAT). Antigen preparation, temperatures, and incubation periods remained as established for STAT. The SALMATcorwas validated according to ISO/DIS 16140:1999 protocol, which included 1187 comparisons of flagella determinations conducted by SALMATcorand STAT, on 141 Salmonellaisolates of 12 common serotypes and the use of antiserum recommended for STAT. SALMATcorconcordance was excellent (Cohen's kappa index 0.9982), obtaining relative accuracy >99.9% and relative specificity >99.9%. Additionally, SALMATcorhas been used by CNRB-INCIENSA since 2004 to respond to all 40 Salmonellaproficiency testing strains, provided by World Health Organization–Global SalmonellaSurveillance Network, obtaining 100% concordance on serovar identification. On the basis of the results achieved with SALMATcorand considering that it also significantly reduces antiserum expenses, hand labor, glassware, and bench top and water bath space requirements (microtiter plates and micropipette tips are the only additional supplies), we envision that SALMATcorwill contribute to establish a sustainable Salmonellaserovar surveillance worldwide. |
