Strengthening public health laboratory capacity in Thailand for International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005).

Introduction: Thailand conducted a national laboratory assessment of core capacities related to the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), and thereby established a baseline to measure future progress. The assessment was limited to public laboratories found within the Thai Bureau of Quality and Safety of Food, National Institute of Health and regional medical science centres. Methods: The World Health Organization (WHO) laboratory assessment tool was adapted to Thailand through a participatory approach. This adapted version employed a specific scoring matrix and comprised 16 modules with a quantitative output. Two teams jointly performed the on-site assessments in December 2010 over a two-week period, in 17 public health laboratories in Thailand. The assessment focused on the capacity to identify and accurately detect pathogens mentioned in Annex 2 of the IHR (2005) in a timely manner, as well as other public health priority pathogens for Thailand. Results: Performance of quality management, budget and finance, data management and communications was considered strong (>90%); premises quality, specimen collection, biosafety, public health functions, supplies management and equipment availability were judged as very good (>70% but ≤90%); while microbiological capacity, staffing, training and supervision, and information technology needed improvement (>60% but ≤70%). Conclusions: This assessment is a major step in Thailand towards development of an optimized and standardized national laboratory network for the detection and reporting of infectious disease that would be compliant with IHR (2005). The participatory strategy employed to adapt an international tool to the Thai context can also serve as a model for use by other countries in the Region. The participatory approach probably ensured better quality and ownership of the results, while providing critical information to help decision-makers determine where best to invest finite resources.

The epidemiological relationship between Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and Salmonella enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- isolates from humans and swine in Thailand.

A total of 138 isolates of S. Typhimurium and S. 4,[5],12:i:- from humans and swine in Thailand during 2003-2006, were evaluated for antimicrobial sensitivity by the disk diffusion method against 10 antimicrobial drugs and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with endonuclease Xbal to investigate the epidemiological relationship among isolates. It was found that all isolates were classified into 27 antimicrobial resistance patterns, and 80% of S. Typhimurium and 95.4% of S. 4,[5],12:i:- isolates were resistant to three or more antimicrobial agents. By PFGE testing, the 84 PFGE patterns were categorized into A to Z patterns. Eighty percent of S. Typhimurium and 71.3% of S. 4,[5],12:i:- isolates in 7 major PFGE patterns had close clonal relationships (_85% similarity). Our studies indicate the spread of genetically identical clones of S. Typhimurium and S. 4,[5],12:i:- in humans and swine in Thailand.

Recovery of Salmonella using a combination of selective enrichment media and antimicrobial resistance of isolates in meat in Thailand.

From November 2004 to March 2005, 50 samples (chicken, pork and beef) of registered meat and non-registered meat were purchased from supermarkets and retail markets located in Bangkok, Thailand. Each sample was evaluated for Salmonella spp by a conventional method using combination of selective enrichment media (RV+MSRV) and compared with selective enrichment medium alone (DIASALM). Our study revealed the performance of RV+MSRV for the detection of Salmonella spp was significantly better than those of DIASALM alone since the recovery of Salmonella spp in both groups of meat was high using RV+MSRV, particularly in the registered meat. In addition, the recovery of serovars in registered meat was significantly higher than those in non-registered meat. Antimicrobial resistance of 62 Salmonella isolates in both groups of meat was determined for 10 antimicrobial drugs using the disk diffusion method. The results show that 100% of isolates from both groups were susceptible to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime and norfloxacin and 50-60% of isolates from both groups were resistant to tetracycline, streptomycin and ampicillin. Sixty percent of Salmonella isolates from meat showed multiresistance antimicrobial patterns.

Salmonella lamphun: first isolation of a new Salmonella serovar in Thailand.

Two isolates of a new Salmonella serovar, Salmonella Lamphun were discovered from animal feeds in Thailand, in 2003, which belongs to group C, with antigenic formula 6,8:y: 1,2. Both isolates were susceptible to all antimicrobials tested. The pulsed field gel electrophoresis pattern of both isolates comprises 11 DNA fractions sized 48, 65, 77, 105, 110, 170, 244, 330, 337,453 and 1,135 kbp. Up to April 2005, no human or animal infection by this new Salmonella serovar was reported.