Listeria monocytogenes in five Sardinian swine slaughterhouses: prevalence, serotype, and genotype characterization.
In a 3-year study (2008 to 2011) to estimate the prevalence and the contamination sources of Listeria monocytogenes in pork meat in Sardinia, Italy, 211 samples were collected from five Sardinian swine slaughterhouses: 171 samples from slaughtered pigs and 40 from the slaughterhouse environment. Fifty L. monocytogenes isolates were characterized by PCR-based serotyping, presence of virulence-associated genes, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis restriction analysis. The overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes was 33% in swine carcasses, 7% in cecal material, 23% on meat contact surfaces, and 25% on noncontact surfaces. Only two serotypes were detected: 1/2c (78%) and 1/2a (22%). In all, based on the presence of virulence-associated genes, eight pathogenic profiles were detected. Only 42% of all isolates carried the full complement of virulence-associated genes and were allotted to profile 1. Six pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles persisted in the slaughterhouses; restriction profiles appeared to be specific to each plant.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy. dmeloni@uniss.it.
Domenico
D
Meloni
Francesca
F
Piras
Anna
A
Mureddu
Federica
F
Fois
Simonetta Gianna
SG
Consolati
Sonia
S
Lamon
Rina
R
Mazzette
D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005838:Genotype; D007558:Italy; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012703:Serotyping; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*