Recurrent and sporadic Listeria monocytogenes contamination in alheiras represents considerable diversity, including virulence-attenuated isolates.

ABSTRACT: Microbiological characterization of alheiras, traditional smoked meat sausages produced in northern Portugal, had previously shown that more than 60% of the lots analyzed were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes at levels higher than 100 CFU/g. In order to better understand L. monocytogenes contamination patterns in alheiras, we characterized 128 L. monocytogenes isolates from alheiras using a variety of subtyping techniques (i.e., molecular serotyping; arsenic, cadmium, and tetracycline resistance typing; and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE]). Subtyping of isolates from products collected on two separate dates provided evidence for the persistence of specific L. monocytogenes PFGE types in the production and distribution chains of alheiras from four different processors. A sub

SUBMITTER: Felicio MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1932748 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature