Persistent endemicity of Salmonella bongori 48:z35:- in southern Italy:: Molecular characterization of human, animal, and environmental isolates

From 1984 to 1999, we collected 31 isolates of the rare serovar Salmonella bongori 48:z(35):- in southern Italy. Twenty-four of the isolates were from cases of acute enteritis in humans. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis showed that all but one of our isolates were at least 80% similar. Our findings suggest that genetically related S. bongori 48:z(35):- strains are endemically circulating in southern Italy.