title: [Toxigenic Bacillus cereus detection in lactic products with spices and dehydrated milk collected in Costa Rica].
abstract: Bacillus cereus is a Gram positive rod widely distributed in nature and associated to different types of food that, under some circumstances, may cause pathology to human beings. Diarrheic and emetic strains have been described based on the type of toxins produced. In order to determine the risk to health represented by this bacteria, the toxigenic potential of strains isolated from cheese with spices, spread cheese with spices and dehydrated milk, all sold in San José, Costa Rica, were determined using a multiplex PCR technique with oligonucleotides specific for the genes coding toxins HBL and Nhe. From 45 samples collected, 15 isolates of B cereus were obtained (60% coming from spread cheese with spices 7% from dehydrated milk and 13% from cheese with spices). All the strains analyzed presented at least one of the genes analyzed; six of them, coming from dehydrated milk and spread cheese, showed molecular evidence of the genes nheB, nheA, nheC, hblD, hblA y hblC, confirming the correlation described for the presence of operons codifying for HBL and Nhe. Nevertheless, the no detection of a gene cannot be considered as a definitive proof of its absence, given the existence of polymorphism in the sequences of the genes analyzed. The results obtained show that multiple of the B cereus strains found in lactic products from Costa Rica have the necessary genes for synthesizing toxins, so the correct handling of these products is very important since they can represent a risk for public health.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: María Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chaves
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003364:Costa Rica; D003611:Dairy Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins