Listeria Occurrence in Poultry Flocks: Detection and Potential Implications

Abstract

Foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Listeria are a major concern within the food industry due to their pathogenic potential to cause infection. Of these, Listeria monocytogenes, possesses a high mortality rate (approximately 20%) and is considered one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogens. Although the usual reservoirs for Listeria transmission have been extensively studied, little is known about the relationship between Listeria and live poultry production. Sporadic and isolated cases of listeriosis have been attributed to poultry production and Listeria spp. have been isolated from all stages of poultry production and processing. Farm studies suggest that live birds may be an important vector and contributor to contamination of the processing environment and transmission of Listeria to consumers. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to highlight the occurrence, incidence, and potential systemic interactions of Listeria spp. with poultry.

Listeria Occurrence and Potential Control Strategies in Alternative and Conventional Poultry Processing and Retail

“…The occurrence of Listeria spp. in live poultry production has been extensively reviewed by Rothrock et al (2017).…”

“…Grow-out farm studies have indicated that broilers can be an important vector for Listeria spp. contamination of the processing environment (Iida et al, 1991;Rothrock et al, 2017). A study of a poultry processing plant indicated that the raw product was a potentially important source of L. monocytogenes (Berrang et al, 2010).…”

Source of Water and Potential Sanitizers and Biological Antimicrobials for Alternative Poultry Processing Food Safety Applications

“…This narrow range can be advantageous as it can preserve microbial populations that are not harmful or pathogenic and may in fact be potentially beneficial such as starter cultures in fermented meat products, but still target specific pathogens. If poultry meats derived from pasture flock birds are to be further processed into some type of fermented final retail product, such as in the form of sausages, this selectivity could be advantageous for ensuring food safety from pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes which can occur in poultry including pasture flock raised birds (Milillo et al, 2012;Ricke et al, 2013;Rothrock Jr et al, 2017).…”

Distribution of serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken meats in Turkey

“…Consequently, the increase of infections and intoxications due to chicken meat may be due to improved rates of reporting and surveillance systems, or due to the increase in the population of elderly and immunocompromised people (EFSA, 2018). Birds may be an important vector and contributor to the contamination of the processing environment and transmission of Listeria to consumers via the food (Rothrock et al, 2017). According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report, 2.9% of all L. monocytogenes infections were caused by consumption of raw poultry products (EFSA, 2010).…”