Potential Role of Refrigerated Milk Packaging in the Transmission of Listeriosis and Salmonellosis.

Cultures of three Listeria monocytogenes serotypes and three Salmonella spp. were applied to the exterior surfaces of waxed cardboard or plastic milk containers. Contamination sites were sampled with premoistened cotton swabs during 14 d of refrigeration. Unstressed cells of Listeria survived up to 14 d on the surfaces of waxed (1 serotype) and plastic (3 serotypes) containers. Heat-stressed cells of all three serotypes of Listeria survived for 2 d on both types of containers. One serotype survived for 4 d, but only on plastic containers. Unstressed cells of all three Salmonella strains survived up to 14 d on both types of containers. Heat-stressed Salmonella strains survived up to 2 d (waxed containers) and 4 d (plastic containers).

Yersinia enterocolitica : Survival of a Pathogenic Strain on Milk Containers.

A strain of Yersinia enterocolitica isolated from a patient in a milk-associated yersiniosis outbreak in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas in the summer of 1982 was used to contaminate the exterior of refrigerated milk containers. The bacteria survived on the containers for as long as 21 d, as shown by recovery on MacConkey agar plates or in veal infusion broth. Y. enterocolitica was not detected in milk poured from the contaminated containers.

Sporothrix schenckii Isolated from Edible Black Fungus Mushrooms.

Sporothrix schenckii , a fungus which is pathogenic to humans, was recovered from imported desiccated black fungus mushrooms [ Auricularia polytrichia (Mont.) Sacc.] usually used in preparing Far Eastern cuisine. Identification was based on microscopic and gross morphology, dimorphism at 25 and 37°C and reactivity with fluorescein-labeled antibodies specific for the yeast-cell form of the fungus. This is the first known report of S. schenckii in or on edible mushrooms.