S. Urbana¶

At a Glance


Antigenic Formula	`30:b:e,n,x`
Serogroup	O:30 (N)
NCBI Pathogen Detection	View isolates

Background Information¶

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Urbana (antigenic formula 30:b:e,n,x) is a serovar of the O:30 (N) serogroup. Serovar Urbana has been reported to cause encephalopathy in a child in Japan.

Genetic Characteristics¶

Serovar Urbana has been found to be paraphyletic. A non-Urbana serovar, S. Johannesburg, clusters within serovar Urbana. Saba et al. found that serovar Urbana isolated from humans in Africa was susceptible to the 20 antibiotics. Three serovar Urbana isolates collected during a multistate outbreak in 2017 were found to carry aph(3'')-lb, aph(6)-ld, and tet(C). The aph(3'')-lb gene produces an aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme conferring resistance to streptomycin and spectinomycin, while aph(6)-ld contributes to streptomycin resistance. The tet(C) gene is linked to tetracycline resistance. Additionally, the plasmid IncHI2 was present in all three serovar Urbana isolates.

Animal Reservoir¶

Unknown, but according to the metadata from NCBI PD, serovar Urbana was isolated from cattle, swine, and wild animals (lizards, central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps)).

Geographical Distribution¶

According to the metadata from NCBI PD, serovar Urbana has been reported occasionally worldwide but mainly in US. The majority of serovar Urbana isolates originate from US (672 out of 817, accessed 06/03/25).

Human/Animal Outbreaks¶

Year	Location	Associated source	Number of cases
2020-2021	US: multistate	Cashew brie¹	20
2017	US: multistate	Maradol papaya	7
2010	Finland, the Czech Republic and Latvia	Unknown	14
1991	Thailand	Contaminated wash basin in the labour nursery²	97

¹ Four Salmonella serovars including Salmonella Chester, Duisburg, Typhimurium, and Urbana were involved in this outbreak. The case number does not reflect the number of infections linked to Salmonella Urbana only.

² Among the infants infected, 57 developed gastrointestinal infections, 37 experienced diarrhea, and three had bacteremia.

Border Rejections¶

There have been no recent border rejections linked to this serovar.

Recalls¶

Year	Location	Recalled food	Type
2021	US: multistate	Cashew brie¹	Milk and milk products

¹ The recall was caused by a multistate outbreak described above. On April 22, 2021, Jule’s Foods issued a recall of all their products, including their cashew brie.