title: The incidence, numbers and types of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from farm bulk tank milks.
abstract: Bulk tank milk from 160 producers was tested for Listeria monocytogenes at three monthly intervals over 1 year. Twenty-five producers were positive, most on a single occasion, only seven were positive on three or more of the four samplings. Listeria monocytogenes numbers were low, usually < 1 ml-1, the highest was 35 ml-1. All isolates were serotype 1, the use of multilocus enzyme electrophoresis on representative isolates gave nine different electrophoretic types, two have been associated with listeriosis in humans or animals, a further two had only been isolated from one other source (silage or faeces), while the majority (5) were unique to milk.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Unit, SAC-Aberdeen, UK.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Fenlon
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Donachie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005513:Food Inspection; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*