Research Publications (Food Safety)

Typical hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC‐HUS), caused by Shiga toxin (Stx)‐producing Escherichia coli (STEC), is a serious, life‐threating disease that mainly affects children. Bacteriological and genetic tests are commonly used in the routine laboratory diagnosis of STEC‐HUS; however, serological methods have emerged as useful and reliable diagnostic tools, especially when bacterial isolation fails.

One of the major problems to be addressed in aquaculture is the prominence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The occurrence of bacterial infections in cultured fishes promotes the continuous use of antibiotics in aquaculture, which results in the selection of proliferated antibiotic resistant bacteria and increases the possibility of transfer to the whole environment through horizontal gene transfer.

Inactivation of Bacillales and Clostridiales spores is of interest, since some cause food spoilage and human diseases. A recent publication (Schlievert et al. 2018) reported that glycerol monolaurate (GML) in a non‐aqueous gel (GMLg) effectively killed spores of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, and Clostridioides difficile, and Bacillus anthracis spores somewhat We now show that: 1) the B.

The honey bee has long been known to be a bioindicator of environmental pollution and the use of antimicrobials in the beekeeping industry is strictly regulated. For these reasons, this paper was aimed to evaluate for the first time the role of Apis mellifera as a possible indicator of environmental AMR.

Significance and Impact of the Study: Arcobacter species are emerging food‐ and water‐borne human pathogens. In this study, Arcobacter butzleri was predominant in fish compared to A. cryoaerohilus and A. skirrowii. Higher incidence of arcobacters in fish market samples suggests cross contamination and unhygienic handling of fish in markets. Virulence genes profile and antibiotics resistance of the Arcobacter sp. isolated in current study indicate pathogenic potential of Arcobacter sp.

Chitosan with higher molecular weight exhibited higher antimicrobial efficacy against foodborne pathogens. However, the poor water solubility of higher or medium molecular weight chitosan limits its applications. To overcome the challenge, our research team was searching for simple preparation procedure for fast dissolving MMW chitosan in water.

Significance and Impact of the Study: The highlight of our research is about the detection of bacteria resistance genes to antibiotics by advanced molecular methods, which means high‐resolution melting curve (HRM) analysis. We determined that the HRM method in identifying colistin‐resistant P. aeruginosa has high accuracy and speed, and with high sensitivity and specificity. Abstract Colistin‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), as a health care system threat, is increasing globally.

Food poisoning risk related to the consumption of contaminated food with known foodborne pathogens or antibiotic‐resistant bacteria is currently a serious threat for public health. Thus, pathogenic Methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus strains are considered as one of the major cause of food‐borne diseases in hospitals.

The aim of this study was to investigate if HtrA is responsible for differences in adherence and invasion of Campylobacter jejuni towards human and chicken cell lines. Gentamicin protection assays were performed with either human Caco‐2 or chicken 2G4 cells using C. jejuni strain NCTC11168 to compare the adhesion and invasion rates towards these two cell types. The results revealed significant differences in the adhesion and invasion rates between the human and avian cells.

Significance and Impact of the Study: Aeromonas spp. are ubiquitous bacteria, also found as aetiological agents in seafood‐borne illness. We conducted this study to disclose the potential risk of consuming cockles, which is one of the most preferred seafood delicacies in Korea. Particularly, with the prevalence of enterotoxin genes in mesophilic A. hydrophila, A. salmonicida and A. veronii increase the possible risk of Aeromonas‐associated gastroenteritis infection in consumers.

Emerging virulent and antibiotic resistant pathogens present a global public health risk. Routine monitoring of prevalence within the clinical, environmental and food production setting is vital. Real time qPCR (qPCR) coupled with melting curve analysis can rapidly and accurately characterize pathogens.

Outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis are often connected to contaminated drinking water. The assessment of the water quality relies on cultivation of indicator bacteria, and little is known of the fate of viruses in groundwater, especially in arctic regions. In Iceland, the groundwater temperature is between 3°C and 6°C. The aim of this study was to determine virus inactivation at low temperature in a groundwater microcosm and in a borehole in a postglacial lava field.

Enterococci are included in the United States National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System to track antibiotic resistance among commensal gram‐positive enteric bacteria, largely due to their high abundance in food animals and in retail meat. In the U.S. cattle industry, macrolides are used to prevent and control liver abscesses, which cause significant economic losses.

An incident of sudden deaths in the breeding stock was reported from a farrow‐to‐finish commercial pig farm in Greece. The 8·4% of sows during lactation and gestation period presented anorexia, fever, hematuria, return‐to‐oestrus, and sudden deaths (mortality rate: 2·3%). Blood and urine samples were collected from 4 diseased sows. Furthermore, swabs from urine bladders were collected from 2 dead sows and 4 culled sows at the slaughterhouse.

Hard‐shelled mussel (Mytilus coruscus) is a popular seafood in Korea. This study aimed to determine the virulence markers and antimicrobial resistance patterns of 33 Aeromonas strains isolated from mussels. The isolates were identified as A. salmonicida (n = 14), A. veronii (n = 9), A. enteropelogenes (n = 4), A. caviae (n = 3), A. allosaccharophila (n = 2) and A. bivalvium (n = 1) by gyrB gene sequencing.

Ready‐to‐eat food contamination with ESBL‐producing Escherichia coli is a growing health concern. Some of these strains also are epidemic clones and can cause community‐associated infections that are difficult to treat. In this study, the occurrence of ESBL‐producing E. coli contaminated ready‐to‐eat street food in Quito‐Ecuador was evaluated. One hundred and fifty samples were collected randomly in the most crowded sites of the city.

Significance and Impact of the Study: Prevalence, genetic diversity and geographic distribution of SAFV in Italy is currently unknown. This study represents the first detection of SAFV in sewage samples in Italy, suggesting that it is circulating in the population despite lack of clinical reporting. Whether the virus is associated with asymptomatic cases or with undetected gastroenteritis or respiratory illness is unknown.

The purpose of this study was to find out the mechanism of quinolone resistance in Shigella sp. isolated from environmental water samples from various parts of Kolkata, India. Out of 196 Shigella sp. isolated from 2014‐17, we selected 32 Shigella isolates for antimicrobial susceptibility tests.

The aim of the present study was to examine the sterility of follicular fluid in large ovarian follicles in dairy cows. Seventeen samples of paired follicular fluids and uterine contents collected from post‐slaughtered dairy cows were cultured to detect aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria. Further, the origin of the bacterial isolates from samples of follicular fluid and the uteri was also investigated using PFGE analysis.

Bacterial communities strongly influence the digestion, health and immune status of fish. This study investigates the microbial distribution of the anterior, middle and distal gut sections of three economically‐important carp species in Bangladesh, rohu, catla and mrigal (commonly known as Indian major carps), using 16S rRNA‐based Illumina sequencing technology.

Attiéké is the major fermented plant food in Côte d'Ivoire. The aim of this study was to identify hazards and critical control points (CCP) in order to implement a HACCP system for the production of attiéké. Physico‐chemical and microbiological analyses were carried out. pH of the cossettes used as raw material for attieke process was slightly acidic (6·5 ± 0·23). But attiéké produced had an acid pH (4·55 ± 0·67).

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungus, which causes vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). The aim of this study was to evaluate Mrr2 mutation and its expression levels and Candida drug resistance 1 (Cdr1) in C. albicans associated with fluconazole (FCA) resistance. We identified 80 isolates of C. albicans from 155 vaginal secretions and performed FCA drug sensitivity tests, using M27‐A3 micro‐broth dilution.

This study investigated potential contamination sources in a commercial, closed hydroponic system. Water, substrate, and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) samples were evaluated for microbiological indicator populations, including aerobic plate count (APC), coliform bacteria (CB), and yeast and mold (YM). Listeria spp. detection via cultural enrichment and agglutination was negative for all samples.

Hog production takes place mostly in large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) where waste is managed by storing in lagoons prior to land application of lagoon liquid. Salmonella, including antibiotic resistant Salmonella, have been found in the farm environment and lagoons. The objective of this research was to determine whether Salmonella resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics were present in wastewaters and surface waters from hog CAFOs.

Cronobacter infections of infants are commonly regarded as due to the ingestion of contaminated feed. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of Cronobacter, total coliforms and Escherichia coli in different brands of natural mineral waters as sold in 20L returnable bottles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The quantification of total coliforms and E. coli was performed by Most Probable Number.