Occurrence and Antibiotic Susceptibility ofListeriaSpecies andStaphylococcus aureusin Cattle Slaughterhouses of Kerala, South India

Abstract

A total of 765 samples were collected from beef carcasses, knives, cutting table surfaces, beef, hands, air, and water from four cattle slaughterhouses of Kerala, South India, to determine the occurrence and antibiotic susceptibility of Listeria species and Staphylococcus aureus. Listeria spp. were isolated from beef carcasses (2.0%), knives (3.7%), cutting table surfaces (1.9%), beef (0.7%), and water (1.3%). The identified species were Listeria monocytogenes (0.1%), Listeria innocua (0.9%), and Listeria ivanovii (0.4%). Most of the Listeria spp. were susceptible to majority of the antibiotics tested. The virulence genes were not detected in Listeria spp. However, all the L. innocua isolates were found to harbor the iap gene. The overall occurrence of S. aureus in slaughterhouses was 50.8%. The highest occurrence was observed on hands of abattoir workers (79.6%) and beef carcasses (59.9%). The isolates were commonly resistant to penicillin (38.0%), followed by ceftriaxone (31.9%), ampicillin (29.0%), amoxicillin (28.8%), tetracycline (24.4%), and chloramphenicol (23.9%). Overall, 53.0% of S. aureus isolates were resistant to three or more antibiotics. Vancomycin and methicillin resistance were observed in 8.5% and 5.4% of S. aureus isolates, respectively. Eight methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates were found to harbor the mecA gene. In conclusion, Listeria spp. was only rarely found in the slaughterhouse environment and on beef. Nevertheless, the recovery of L. monocytogenes from a water reservoir containing sea water that was used to wash carcasses indicates the potential risk of contamination of the carcasses with L. monocytogenes when using sea water. S. aureus was frequently isolated from abattoir workers and beef carcasses, and the occurrence of S. aureus differed significantly between slaughterhouses. The high occurrence of S. aureus, which were often resistant toward different antibiotics, represents a significant public health concern.

Occurrence and antibiogram of Listeria species in raw pork, beef, and chicken meats marketed in Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria

“…This could consequently jeopardize antibacterial therapy in these individuals who are potential reservoirs and disseminators of these organisms. The high rates of AMP, PEN, GEN, and TET resistance in this study are consistent with the result of the previous studies among Listeria isolates from poultry meats [14,15,17,43,44], but they contrasted Gowda and Van Damme [34] stating that most Listeria isolates from raw beef carcasses were susceptible to these drugs.…”

“…The 45.8% occurrence in beef samples in this study is higher than 42.1% and 2.1% occurrence of Listeria in 50 randomly-selected raw beef samples reported in Rivers State, South-south Nigeria [23] and raw beef carcasses in India [34], respectively. However, it is lower than 52.78% occurrence of Listeria in 36 randomly-selected raw beef samples reported in Rivers State, South-south Nigeria [22].…”

Monitoring of <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Salmonella</i> spp. and Staphylococci in Poultry Meat-Based Fast Food in Saudi Arabia

“…In Sta- and investigation in one outbreak pointed to the food-handler who transmitted the pathogen to the food [21]. Another study documented that highest occurrence of Staph aureus was on hands of abattoir workers (79.6%) and beef carcasses (59.9%) [22]. This is the first report of isolation of Staph.…”

Ecology of Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria species in India: the occurrence, resistance to biocides, genomic landscape and biocontrol

“…The strains belonged to 1/2a, 1/2b, 3a, 3b, 4b, 4d, and 4e serotypes. Also, L. innocua (0.90%), L. ivanovii (0.40%), and L. monocytogenes (0.10%) were isolated from beef carcasses, knives, cutting table surfaces, and water samples collected from cattle slaughterhouses of Kerala (Gowda et al ., 2017). Pathogenic L. monocytogenes belonging to 4b, 1/2a, 1/2b, and 1/2c serotypes were isolated from the chevon, mutton, and swab samples collected from the slaughterhouses of Punjab (Alka et al ., 2019).…”