Virulence‐Encoding Genes Conserved in <i>Salmonella</i> Isolated From Humans, Poultry, and Seafood

Diverse virulence genes encode for the Type III secretion system (T3SS) in bacteria. In <i>Salmonella</i>, these genes are located in the <i>Salmonella</i> pathogenicity Islands 1 and 2 (SPI-1 and SPI-2), and they facilitate bacterial invasion and replication within macrophages, contributing to the burden of nontyphoidal <i>Salmonella</i> infections. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of selected virulence-encoding genes in 30 laboratory stocks of <i>Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis</i> from Nigeria (16 isolates) and nonclinical sources comprising poultry and seafood from India (14 isolates). Analysis of PCR amplicons revealed that the genes <i>sseB</i>, <i>sseD, sseF, sse</i>T, and <i>invH</i> were conserved in all the isolates except for two isolates obtained from clams, which did not have the <i>sseD</i> and <i>sseF</i> genes. In addition, the <i>sseC</i> and <i>sseG</i> genes were absent from all the tested isolates. This study provides insights into the distribution of selected T3SS genes among <i>Salmonella</i> spp. isolated from clinical and raw animal food sources in Nigeria and India, respectively.