ABSTRACT
The prevalence and profile of resistance to antimicrobials of Salmonella serovars isolated from raw pork sausage were studied in Lages county, Santa Catarina, Brazil. A total of 125 samples of 12 trademarks were collected in different commercial establishments. Salmonella sp. was present in 12.8 percent (16/125) of the samples and Typhimurium serovar was the most prevalent. Fourteen different antimicrobials were tested and most of the samples showed resistance to sulfonamide and tetracycline (81.2 percent). Eight positive samples (50 percent) were resistant at least to four antimicrobials, being considered as multi-resistant Salmonella. Seven (58.3 percent) trademarks were disagreement with the Brazilian law, representing a risk to the public health. The high level of resistance to the antimicrobials should produce a concern by the pig industry and veterinarians in order to prevent the transmission of resistant strains through the food chain.