title: Occurrence of Bacillus cereus in milk and milk products in Egypt.
abstract: The presence of B. cereus spores in raw, pasteurized, and dry milk as well as in Damietta and processed cheese and in a baby food product was investigated, using three selective agar media for enumeration. The organism was detected in 70, 90, and 50% of milk, in processed and Damietta cheese samples, respectively. Spore counts varied from 10(2) to 10(6) and from 10 to 10(2)/ml of raw and pasteurized milk, respectively. In the two types of cheese and dried milk spore densities reached 10 to 10(3)/g. Egg yolk agar (E) gave better recovery rate of B. cereus when compared to the other two media, containing lithium chloride plus polymyxine B- sulphat (I) or polymyxin B-sulphate alone (KG). The latter agar medium favoured the development of larger colonies, surrounded by a more distinctive zone of precipitation.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003611:Dairy Products; D004534:Egypt; D005516:Food Microbiology; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification