title: Distribution of toxigenic Bacillus cereus in rice samples marketed in Hong Kong.
abstract: Eleven of 16 samples of rice on sale in rice shops and supermarkets in Hong Kong contained Bacillus cereus. Although B. cereus counts did not exceed 100 bacteria/g in most of the positive samples, a sample of Thai red rice and a poor quality rice originating from China contained between 300 to 1000 cells/g and 10(4) to 2×10(5) cells/g, respectively. Nine strains produced an enterotoxin responsible for the diarrhoeal-type B. cereus food poisoning and seven of these strains also produced a haemolysin (haemolysin BL), a dermonecrotic vascular permeability factor which may be a virulence determinant in diarrhoeal illness caused by this bacterium.
authors.affiliation: , .
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Buswell
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinagawa