Serovar Distribution of Salmonella Strains Isolated from Sporadic Diarrhea and Food Poisoning Cases in Okinawa

A total of 511 Salmonella strains isolated in Nakagami, Miyako and Yaeyama hospital in Okinawa prefecture during the period 1995-2001 were examined for their serovar-distribution. Simultaneously, a total of 50 Salmonella food poisoning cases which occurred from 1989 to 2000 were investigated for their serovars and to determine it's sources and distribution. The serological typing results showed that the sporadic diarrhea strains were classified into 9 O-groups and 42 serovars. The five most dominating serovars were Enteritidis (49%), Weltevreden (6.7%), Bareilly (5.1%), Typhimuriun (4.9%), and Infantis (2.9%). The distribution of Salmonella serovars in food poisoning cases were similar to sporadic diarrhea cases, that Enteritidis (50%), Weltevreden (18%), Typhimuriun (12%) being the most frequent. Excepting Weltevreden, the pattern of serotypes were similar to those found in mainland Japan. Weltevreden is seldom isolated in mainland Japan, but it is commonly isolated in Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and also in Honolulu is the predominant serovar.