High Genetic Diversity Among <i>Bacillus cereus</i> Isolates Contaminating Donated Milk at a Canadian Human Milk Bank.

ABSTRACT: Bacillus cereus poses a persistent challenge for human milk banks (HMBs) due to its ability to survive Holder pasteurization (HoP; 62.5 °C for 30 min). To ensure neonatal safety, any milk found to be contaminated post-HoP must be discarded, which impacts milk supply and adds to the operational demands of HMBs. In this study, we analyzed 688 B. cereus isolates from human milk (pre- and post-HoP), as well as from patient and environmental sources, to investigate human milk contamination by B. cereus at a Canadian HMB. Despite the limited temporal and geographic scope of the collection, the isolates exhibited remarkable genomic diversity, comparable to global B. cereus collections. Phylogenetic analysis at the core genome level revealed no clear clustering by isola

SUBMITTER: Gene M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12114557 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature