Antimicrobial Resistance in Salmonella Across Aquaculture, Seafood and Related Aquatic Environments: A Scoping Review With Exploratory Textual Analysis

ABSTRACT Salmonella spp. are major foodborne pathogens linked to high morbidity and mortality, and their increasing antimicrobial resistance represents a growing global public health threat. This scoping review followed the PRISMA protocol and included 93 original articles on the microbiological diagnosis and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella spp. isolated from aquaculture, seafood and related aquatic environments. Studies were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, SciELO, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science, covering 2004 to 2024. Eligible studies included samples from aquaculture systems, fisheries, seafood products, or related environmental and food‐processing sources. Extracted data addressed country of origin, resistance profiles, resistance genes and phenotypes, and multidrug‐resistant (MDR) serovars. Abstracts were analyzed using classical lexical statistics, word clouds, similarity graphs, and hierarchical descending classification in R and Iramuteq. Among studies, 42.8% originated from Asia, with the highest publication count in 2021. Textual analysis showed strong associations among the terms “ Salmonella ”, “isolates”, “resistance”, and “antimicrobials”. Hierarchical classification revealed themes such as “surveillance”, “pathogens in food”, and “One Health”. Tetracycline exhibited the highest resistance rate (83.3%) across studies, and the disk diffusion method was the most frequently used (72%). Commonly reported resistance genes included qnrS (fluoroquinolones), blaTEM‐1 (β‐lactamases), sul3 (sulfonamides), and dfrA12 (trimethoprim). Virulence genes such as invA, fimA , spvC , and stn were also identified. The most frequently reported MDR serovars were S. Typhimurium and S . Newport. This review highlights the relevance of antimicrobial‐resistant Salmonella in aquaculture and reinforces the need for robust monitoring aligned with One Health strategies to ensure safe and sustainable production.