ABSTRACT
To determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Campylobacter, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in food-producing animals and retail raw meats in Japan, raw meat samples as well as food-producing animal feces, cutaneous swabs, and nasal swabs collected from 2004 to 2006 were analyzed. Isolation rates of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, Salmonella, and S. aureus were 34.6% (363 of 1,050), 2.7% (28 of 1,050), and 32.8% (238 of 725), respectively. MRSA was isolated from 3% (9 of 300) of meat samples. No VRE were isolated in this study. Antibiotic resistance in C. coli was higher than that in C. jejuni. Three C. jejuni isolates from a patient with diarrhea in a hospital of Shizuoka Prefecture and two chicken samples that exhibited resistance to ciprofloxacin had identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns, suggesting that ciprofloxacin-resistant C. jejuni could have been distributed in meat. S. aureus isolates showed the highest level of resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline. Resistance to tetracycline in S. aureus isolates from beef was lower than that seen in isolates from chicken and pork (P < 0.01). This study revealed that the prevalence of MRSA and VRE were low in food-producing animals and retail domestic meats in Japan, although Campylobacter isolates resistant to fluoroquinolone and erythromycin were detected. The occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens should be monitored continuously to improve the management of the risks associated with antimicrobial drug resistance transferred from food-producing animals to humans.
Subject(s)
Animals, Domestic/microbiology , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Colony Count, Microbial/methods , Drug Resistance, Bacterial , Meat/microbiology , Animals , Campylobacter/isolation & purification , Cattle/microbiology , Chickens/microbiology , Consumer Product Safety , Enterococcus/isolation & purification , Humans , Japan , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Salmonella/isolation & purification , Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification , Swine/microbiology , Vancomycin ResistanceABSTRACT
The incidence and levels of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and thermostable direct hemolysin gene (tdh)-positive organisms in retail seafood were determined. The most probable number-polymerase chain reaction (MPN-PCR) method using a PCR procedure targeting the species-specific thermolabile hemolysin gene (tlh) and tdh was used to determine the levels of V. parahaemolyticus and tdh-positive organisms, respectively. In seafood for raw consumption, V. parahaemolyticus was found in four (13.3%) of 30 fish samples, 11 (55.0%) of 20 crustacean samples, and 29 (96.7%) of 30 mollusc samples. Levels of V. parahaemolyticus were below 10(4) MPN/100 g in all fish and crustacean samples tested. However, they were above 10(4) MPN/100 g in 11 (36.7%) of the 30 mollusc samples. In all seafood for raw consumption, the level of tdh-positive organisms was below the limit of detection (< 30 MPN/100 g). In seafood for cooking, V. parahaemolyticus was found in 15 (75.0%) of 20 fish samples, nine (45.0%) of 20 crustacean sample, and 20 (100%) of 20 mollusc samples. Levels of V. parahaemolyticus were above 10(4) MPN/100 g in only three (15.0%) and one (5.0%) of the 20 fish and 20 crustacean samples, respectively. However, they were above 10(4) MPN/100 g in 18 (90.0%) of the 20 mollusc samples. In seven (35.0%) of the 20 mollusc samples, tdh-positive organisms were found and their levels ranged from 3.6x10 to 1.1 x 103 MPN/100 g. From four of seven tdhpositive samples, tdh-positive V. parahaemolyticus was isolated.
