Prevalence and serotyping of Listeria monocytogenes in Portuguese live bivalve molluscs sampled in various steps along the sanitary control process

Ana Luísa Pinto, Paula Teixeira*, Fernanda Castilho, Maria Teresa Felício, Filomena Pombal, Paul A. Gibbs

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

The prevalence and contamination levels of Listeria monocytogenes were investigated in live bivalve molluscs for human consumption, collected in various steps of the commercial and sanitary circuits in the North of Portugal. Samples of different species were collected per lot before and after depuration treatment in two depuration units and further, when placed in retail markets. Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from 4% of the samples although with very low contamination levels (less than 100 MPN g-1). None of the environmental (non-depurated) samples were contaminated with the food-borne pathogen. The positive samples involved depurated and commercialized samples from two lots, one in each circuit. Two serotypes (1/2a and 3b) were detected among the isolated strains. This study demonstrated the possibility of occurrence of L. monocytogenes contamination of live bivalve molluscs along the sanitary control circuit, including at the retail market level. As L. monocytogenes grows well at refrigerated temperatures and in high salt matrixes such as seafood its presence in these products should not be overlooked.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1112-1116
Number of pages5
JournalAquaculture Research
Volume37
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2006

Keywords

  • Listeria monocytogenes
  • Live bivalve molluscs
  • Prevalence
  • Sanitary control
  • Serotyping

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