Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China

Listeria monocytogenes is the etiologic agent of listeriosis, which remains a significant public health concern in many countries due to its high case-fatality rate. The constant risk of L. monocytogenes transmission to consumers remains a central challenge in the food production industry. At presen...

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Main Authors: Hongzhi Zhang, Fengxia Que, Biyao Xu, Linjun Sun, Yanqi Zhu, Wenjie Chen, Yulong Ye, Qingli Dong, Hong Liu, Xi Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiology
Subjects:
WGS
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.628204/full
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spelling doaj-dff727c4753d4dceafa0b8d696f9b6092021-02-25T08:30:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2021-02-011210.3389/fmicb.2021.628204628204Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in ChinaHongzhi Zhang0Fengxia Que1Biyao Xu2Linjun Sun3Yanqi Zhu4Wenjie Chen5Yulong Ye6Qingli Dong7Hong Liu8Xi Zhang9Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaThe Jinshan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaInstitute of Food Quality and Safety, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaThe Jinshan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaInstitute of Food Quality and Safety, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, ChinaListeria monocytogenes is the etiologic agent of listeriosis, which remains a significant public health concern in many countries due to its high case-fatality rate. The constant risk of L. monocytogenes transmission to consumers remains a central challenge in the food production industry. At present, there is very little known about L. monocytogenes contamination in ready-to-eat (RTE) processing plants in China. In this study, L. monocytogenes in an RTE meat processing plant in Shanghai municipality was characterized using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Furthermore, the biofilm formation ability of the pathogen was also tested. Results revealed that L. monocytogenes isolates were present in 12 samples out of the 48 samples investigated. Most of them (66.7%, 8/12) were identified from the processing facilities irrespective of observed hygiene levels of aerobic plate count (APC) and coliforms. Coliforms were present in only one processing area. ST5 (1/2b) isolates were predominant (83.3%, 10/12) and were identified in two dominant pulsotypes (PTs) (three in PT3 and seven in PT4, respectively). Results of the core-genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) showed that ST5 in three PTs (PT1, PT3, and PT4) had 0–8 alleles, which confirmed that clonal transmission occurred in the RTE meat processing facilities. In addition, the biofilm formation test confirmed that the isolates from the processing facilities could form biofilms, which helped them colonize and facilitate persistence in the environment. These results indicated that common sanitation procedures regularly applied in the processing environment were efficient but not sufficient to remove L. monocytogenes isolates, especially biofilm of L. monocytogenes. Furthermore, the ST5 isolates in this study exhibited 12 alleles with one ST5 clinical isolate, which contributes to the understanding of the potential pathogenic risk that L. monocytogenes in RTE meat processing equipment posed to consumers. Therefore, strong hygienic measures, especially sanitation procedures for biofilms eradication, should be implemented to ensure the safety of raw materials. Meanwhile, continuous surveillance might be vital for the prevention and control of listeriosis caused by L. monocytogenes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.628204/fullListeria monocytogenesRTE meat processing plantPFGEWGScgMLST
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hongzhi Zhang
Fengxia Que
Biyao Xu
Linjun Sun
Yanqi Zhu
Wenjie Chen
Yulong Ye
Qingli Dong
Hong Liu
Xi Zhang
spellingShingle Hongzhi Zhang
Fengxia Que
Biyao Xu
Linjun Sun
Yanqi Zhu
Wenjie Chen
Yulong Ye
Qingli Dong
Hong Liu
Xi Zhang
Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China
Frontiers in Microbiology
Listeria monocytogenes
RTE meat processing plant
PFGE
WGS
cgMLST
author_facet Hongzhi Zhang
Fengxia Que
Biyao Xu
Linjun Sun
Yanqi Zhu
Wenjie Chen
Yulong Ye
Qingli Dong
Hong Liu
Xi Zhang
author_sort Hongzhi Zhang
title Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China
title_short Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China
title_full Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China
title_fullStr Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China
title_full_unstemmed Identification of Listeria monocytogenes Contamination in a Ready-to-Eat Meat Processing Plant in China
title_sort identification of listeria monocytogenes contamination in a ready-to-eat meat processing plant in china
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Microbiology
issn 1664-302X
publishDate 2021-02-01
description Listeria monocytogenes is the etiologic agent of listeriosis, which remains a significant public health concern in many countries due to its high case-fatality rate. The constant risk of L. monocytogenes transmission to consumers remains a central challenge in the food production industry. At present, there is very little known about L. monocytogenes contamination in ready-to-eat (RTE) processing plants in China. In this study, L. monocytogenes in an RTE meat processing plant in Shanghai municipality was characterized using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Furthermore, the biofilm formation ability of the pathogen was also tested. Results revealed that L. monocytogenes isolates were present in 12 samples out of the 48 samples investigated. Most of them (66.7%, 8/12) were identified from the processing facilities irrespective of observed hygiene levels of aerobic plate count (APC) and coliforms. Coliforms were present in only one processing area. ST5 (1/2b) isolates were predominant (83.3%, 10/12) and were identified in two dominant pulsotypes (PTs) (three in PT3 and seven in PT4, respectively). Results of the core-genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) showed that ST5 in three PTs (PT1, PT3, and PT4) had 0–8 alleles, which confirmed that clonal transmission occurred in the RTE meat processing facilities. In addition, the biofilm formation test confirmed that the isolates from the processing facilities could form biofilms, which helped them colonize and facilitate persistence in the environment. These results indicated that common sanitation procedures regularly applied in the processing environment were efficient but not sufficient to remove L. monocytogenes isolates, especially biofilm of L. monocytogenes. Furthermore, the ST5 isolates in this study exhibited 12 alleles with one ST5 clinical isolate, which contributes to the understanding of the potential pathogenic risk that L. monocytogenes in RTE meat processing equipment posed to consumers. Therefore, strong hygienic measures, especially sanitation procedures for biofilms eradication, should be implemented to ensure the safety of raw materials. Meanwhile, continuous surveillance might be vital for the prevention and control of listeriosis caused by L. monocytogenes.
topic Listeria monocytogenes
RTE meat processing plant
PFGE
WGS
cgMLST
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.628204/full
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