Prevalence of Listeria spp. and characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from food products in Tetouan, Morocco

Abstract

A total of 1096 food samples were purchased in Tetouan, North-Western of Morocco, to examine the presence of Listeria spp. Eighty (7.3%) of the tested samples were found positive for the presence of Listeria spp., while L. monocytogenes was detected in 16 (1.5%) samples.L. monocytogenes isolates belonged to clonal complexes CC2 (PCR serogroup IVb) and CC199 (PCR serogroup IIa) and to 8 different combined AscI/ApaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles. Core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) allowed to distinguish 12 different cgMLST types and revealed the presence of 3 clusters of closely-related isolates from different samples, suggesting the existence of common sources of contamination. Isolates showed no resistance to the reference antibiotics used for the treatment of listeriosis. This study underlines the circulation of L. monocytogenes strains of clonal complex CC2 in Morocco and highlights the importance of microbiological surveillance in order to minimize consumers' exposure to this foodborne pathogen.

Prevalence, virulence characterization, and genetic relatedness of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from chicken retail points and poultry slaughterhouses in Turkey

“…Major epidemics of listeriosis occur because of serotype 4b strains [21]; however, there was only one strain within this serogroup in this study. In another study [51], 16 L. monocytogenes strains from food samples were found to belong to serogroup IVb (87.5%) within phylogenetic lineage I and serogroup IIa belonging to phylogenetic lineage II (12.5%). Similar to the findings of this study, predominant serogroup in their study was serogroup IIa.…”

“…In the related literature, the reported prevalence rates of this bacterium in poultry meat products were 3.7% in Morocco [45], 8.9% in Algeria [46], 15.3% in Romania [47], 17.9% in Brazil [44], 38% in Greece [12], 2.1% [48], 45% in Turkey [49], and 58% in Brazil [50]. The differences in the prevalence may be due to the differences in geographical characteristics, sampling strategies, hygienic conditions, and microbiological analysis methods [51]. L. monocytogenes contamination of poultry meat may occur during production, processing, and storage [44].…”

Listeria monocytogenes Isolated from Illegally Imported Food Products into the European Union Harbor Different Virulence Factor Variants

“…ST20 strains, also represented by five isolates, appear to be rare, and rather environmentally associated, especially to silage and animals [ 32 ]. Interestingly, ST199, originating in this study from a meat product in Morocco, was also present in legally sold Moroccan food products (2009–2015) [ 33 ].…”

Emergence of Antibiotic Resistance in Listeria monocytogenes Isolated from Food Products: A Comprehensive Review

“…Further, Amajoud et al. () reported that all 16 food L. monocytogenes isolates were susceptible to penicillin G, chloramphenicol, rifampicin, streptomycin, vancomycin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, amikacin, kanamycin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, gentamicin, imipenem, and tobramycin. However, all isolates showed resistance to cefotaxime, sulfonamide, nalidixic acid, fosfomycine, and lincosamide.…”