title: Identification and molecular characterization of pathogenic bacteria in foods confiscated from non-EU flights passengers at one Spanish airport.
abstract: Two hundred food samples of animal origin confiscated from passengers arriving on flights from non-European countries at the International Airport of Bilbao (Spain) were tested for the presence of four main bacterial foodborne pathogens (Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp.) during 2012 and 2013. Overall, 20 samples were positive for L. monocytogenes (10%) and 11 for Salmonella spp. (5.5%), whereas Campylobacter spp. and E. coli O157:H7 were not detected in any sample. The positive isolates were widely clustered: 14 and 7 different pulsotypes for L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. isolates, respectively. Nine sequence types (ST) were detected for L. monocytogenes: ST2 (45%), ST9 (15% isolates), ST8 and ST87 (10%), and ST308, ST37, ST155 and ST378 (5%). The Salmonella spp. isolates belonged to seven serovars: monophasic serovar 4,12:d:- (3; 27.3%), Rauform (2; 18.2%), Anatum (2; 18.2%), Oranienburg, Enteritidis, Newport and Typhimurium (1; 9.1% each). Antibiotic resistance among L. monocytogenes isolates was high, especially for clindamycin and daptomycin (more than 95% of the isolates). These results indicate that food samples imported by travelers in their personal luggage may harbor the most prevalent L. monocytogenes genotypes and Salmonella spp. serovars responsible for foodborne outbreaks worldwide. Consequently, international travel can play an important role in the prevalence and dissemination of successful clones of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, and continuous monitoring of international movements is of importance to better understand clonal evolution and emergence and dissemination of successful lineages.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León (ITACyL), Valladolid, Spain; Microbiology Section, Faculty of Sciences, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain. Electronic address: rodlazda@gmail.com.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Lázaro
authors.affiliation: Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León (ITACyL), Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ariza-Miguel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Faculty of Sciences, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diez-Valcarce
authors.affiliation: Institute of Milk Hygiene, Milk Technology and Food Science, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Beatrix
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stessl
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Safety, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beutlich
authors.affiliation: Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, Spain; Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), University of León, Leon, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernández-Natal
authors.affiliation: Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León (ITACyL), Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.affiliation: Institute of Milk Hygiene, Milk Technology and Food Science, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria; Christian Doppler Laboratory for Molecular Food Analytics, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Faculty of Sciences, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rovira
mesh_terms: D059028:Airports; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005516:Food Microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Campylobacter; Escherichia coli O157:H7; International flights; Listeria monocytogenes; Neglected route of transmission; Salmonella spp.