title: Survival of Helicobacter suis bacteria in retail pig meat.
abstract: Helicobacter (H.) suis colonizes the gastric mucosa of pigs world-wide and is the most prevalent non-Helicobacter pylori Helicobacter species in humans. This agent might be transmitted to humans by manipulation or consumption of contaminated pork. H. suis is a very fastidious micro-organism and is extremely difficult to isolate. Therefore, we developed a non-culture dependent, quantitative detection method allowing differentiation of viable from dead H. suis bacteria in pork. This was established by a combination of ethidium bromide monoazide (EMA) treatment and real-time (RT)-PCR. This EMA RT-PCR was applied to 50 retail pork samples. In two samples, viable H. suis bacteria were detected. Sequence analysis of the obtained PCR products confirmed the presence of H. suis DNA. Viable H. suis bacteria persisted for at least 48h in experimentally contaminated pork. In conclusion, consumption of contaminated pork may constitute a new route of transmission for H. suis infections in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. lien.decooman@ugent.be
authors.forename: Lien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Cooman
authors.forename: Bram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Flahou
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Houf
authors.forename: Annemieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smet
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ducatelle
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pasmans
authors.forename: Freddy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haesebrouck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001386:Azides / Q000378:metabolism; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000379:methods*; D018247:Helicobacter heilmannii / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D050296:Microbial Viability; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D001386:Azides; C014535:8-azidoethidium
keywords: Foodborne pathogen; Helicobacter suis; Pork; Viable bacteria; Zoonotic agent