Comparison of Listeria monocytogenes strain types in Irish smoked salmon and other foods.
An investigation of Listeria monocytogenes in Irish retail smoked salmon products and other unrelated food products was undertaken. Serotyping and genotyping methods were applied. Twenty-six L. monocytogenes isolates cultured from ready-to-eat smoked salmon and an additional 20 L. monocytogenes isolates from various commercially available food products (other than smoked salmon) were compared. Four serotypes, 12 ribotypes, 12 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) types and 17 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) types were identified among the 46 isolates studied. Genotyping identified a single dominant strain that accounted for 65% of those cultured from smoked salmon and this strain was present in product obtained from three out of five of the manufacturers surveyed. When compared to the food products obtained from a variety of sources, those from smoked salmon appeared to cluster as a single group. In Irish smoked salmon this strain may have adapted, and be capable of persisting in this food product. All isolates were grouped into genetic lineages based on their EcoR1 ribotypes. The attendant risk to public health following consumption of these foods is discussed.
Corcoran
Deborah
D
Centre for Food Safety, School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
Clancy
David
D
O'Mahony
Micheál
M
Grant
Kathie
K
Hyland
Evelyn
E
Shanaghy
Noel
N
Whyte
Paul
P
McLauchlin
James
J
Moloney
Anne
A
Fanning
Séamus
S
D000818:Animals; D015246:Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI / Q000378:metabolism; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005396:Fish Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D005506:Food Contamination; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D007494:Ireland; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D021521:Ribotyping; D012474:Salmon / Q000382:microbiology*; D012703:Serotyping; D014618:Vacuum
D015246:Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI