Prevalence of intramammary antibiotic usage in dairy farming.

This research communication describes the lactating intramammary (IMM) antibiotic formulation most used by Irish dairy farmers at farm level through interviewing 202 dairy farmers. The IMM antibiotic usage data is not easily available to the researcher and farming community. This study determined that three commercial formulations (Synulox ™, Tetra Delta™ and Terrexine) made up 81% of the products used at farm level.

Evaluation of an Environmental Monitoring Program for the Microbial Safety of Air and Surfaces in a Dairy Plant Environment.

Microbiological hazards can occur when foodstuffs come into contact with contaminated surfaces or infectious agents dispersed by air currents in the manufacturing environment. An environmental monitoring program (EMP) is a critical aspect of sustainable and safe food manufacturing used to evaluate the effectiveness of the microbial controls in place. An effective EMP should be based on risk analysis, taking into account previous sampling history to determine the selection of the sampling points, the scope of the test, and the frequency of analysis.

Development of a hierarchical model for predicting microbiological contamination of private groundwater supplies in a geologically heterogeneous region.

Private groundwater sources in the Republic of Ireland provide drinking water to an estimated 750,000 people or 16% of the national population. Consumers of untreated groundwater are at increased risk of infection from pathogenic microorganisms. However, given the volume of private wells in operation, remediation or even quantification of public risk is both costly and time consuming.

Evaluation of the Complex Nomenclature of the Clinically and Veterinary Significant Pathogen .

encompasses a vast and highly related population of clinically and veterinary significant pathogens. The genus is responsible for an array of diseases such as typhoid fever and salmonellosis (a variety of illnesses including gastroenteritis), which cause public health issues globally. Even with the global recognition of as a significant human and veterinary pathogen, the highly complex and evolving nomenclature system of is problematic for clinicians, veterinarians, and microbiologists to comprehend.

Assessment of the Bacterial Diversity of Aircraft Water: Identification of the Frequent Fliers.

The aim of this study was to determine and identify bacteria inhabiting the supply chain of an airline's drinking water using phenotypic and 16S rDNA sequence-based analysis. Water samples (n = 184) were sourced from long-haul and short-haul aircraft, the airline water source and a water service vehicle. In total, 308 isolates were characterised and their identity determined, which produced 82 identified bacterial species belonging to eight classes: γ-Proteobacteria; β-Proteobacteria; α-Proteobacteria; Bacilli; Actinobacteria; Flavobacteria; Sphingobacteria and Cytophaga.

The impact of meteorology on the occurrence of waterborne outbreaks of vero cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC): a logistic regression approach.

This study analyses the relationship between meteorological phenomena and outbreaks of waterborne-transmitted vero cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) in the Republic of Ireland over an 8-year period (2005-2012). Data pertaining to the notification of waterborne VTEC outbreaks were extracted from the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting system, which is administered through the national Health Protection Surveillance Centre as part of the Health Service Executive. Rainfall and temperature data were obtained from the national meteorological office and categorised as cumulative rainfall, heavy rainfall events in the previous 7 days, and mean temperature.

Bacteria that Travel: The Quality of Aircraft Water.

The travelling population is increasing globally year on year. International tourist arrival figures reached 1087 million in 2013 and 1133 million in 2014; of which 53% and 54% respectively accounted for air transport. The water on board aircraft is sourced from surface or ground water; piped to a central filling point and distributed to each aircraft by water service vehicles at the home base or at the destination airport.

Past, Present and Future of Sensors in Food Production.

Microbial contamination management is a crucial task in the food industry. Undesirable microbial spoilage in a modern food processing plant poses a risk to consumers' health, causing severe economic losses to the manufacturers and retailers, contributing to wastage of food and a concern to the world's food supply. The main goal of the quality management is to reduce the time interval between the filling and the detection of a microorganism before release, from several days, to minutes or, at most, hours.

Microbiological assessment of private groundwater-derived potable water supplies in the Mid-West Region of Ireland.

Determining the likelihood that groundwater contains faecal coliforms can aid water resource management in facilitating the protection of drinking water supplies. This study assesses the incidence of the faecal indicator organism Escherichia coli in 125 private water supplies (PWSs) serving individual houses in the Mid-West Region of Ireland. Two factors, aquifer type and rainfall (mm), were chosen as independent variables that can affect the vulnerability of a groundwater body.

The antibiotic susceptibility of water-based bacteria Ralstonia pickettii and Ralstonia insidiosa.

Ralstonia pickettii and Ralstonia insidiosa are waterborne bacteria that can survive and grow in various water sources, and that are emerging pathogens in hospital settings. Not much is known about the antibiotic resistance of these bacteria. Previous reports of antimicrobial susceptibility have been largely limited to a few clinical strains with no accounting for genotypic or phenotypic diversity or that these species could vary from the set breakpoints.

Genotypic and phenotypic diversity of Ralstonia pickettii and Ralstonia insidiosa isolates from clinical and environmental sources including High-purity Water. Diversity in Ralstonia pickettii.

Background: Ralstonia pickettii is a nosocomial infectious agent and a significant industrial contaminant. It has been found in many different environments including clinical situations, soil and industrial High Purity Water. This study compares the phenotypic and genotypic diversity of a selection of strains of Ralstonia collected from a variety of sources.

Specific PCR to identify the heavy-metal-resistant bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans.

The aim of this study is to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for rapid detection of Cupriavidus metallidurans. PCR primers targeting the Signal transduction histidine kinase gene were designed and designated Cm-F1/Cm-R1. Strains of C.

Development of real-time PCR assays for detection and quantification of Bacillus cereus group species: differentiation of B. weihenstephanensis and rhizoid B. pseudomycoides isolates from milk.

Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) offers an alternative method for the detection of bacterial contamination in food. This method provides the quantitation and determination of the number of gene copies. In our study, we established an RT-PCR assay using the LightCycler system to detect and quantify the Bacillus cereus group species, which includes B.

An overview of foodborne pathogen detection: in the perspective of biosensors.

Food safety is a global health goal and the foodborne diseases take a major crisis on health. Therefore, detection of microbial pathogens in food is the solution to the prevention and recognition of problems related to health and safety. For this reason, a comprehensive literature survey has been carried out aiming to give an overview in the field of foodborne pathogen detection.

Novel Tn4371-ICE like element in Ralstonia pickettii and genome mining for comparative elements.

Background: Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs) are important factors in the plasticity of microbial genomes. An element related to the ICE Tn4371 was discovered during a bioinformatic search of the Ralstonia pickettii 12J genome. This element was analysed and further searches carried out for additional elements.

Characterization of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium isolates from human, food, and animal sources in the Republic of Ireland.

A potential epidemic clone of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium DT104, and the possible emergence of S. enterica serotype Typhimurium DT104b, has been identified from the characterization of 67 S. enterica serotype Typhimurium strains from three sources, human gastroenteritis isolates, isolates from food samples, and veterinary isolates, by antimicrobial resistance profiling, phage typing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

A study of cross-contamination of food-borne pathogens in the domestic kitchen in the Republic of Ireland.

To date, there have been no published information and empirical data available on the role played by the food preparer in the domestic kitchen in the Republic of Ireland. In this study, we have looked at the incidence of potential food pathogens and their cross-infection in the domestic kitchen during the preparation of a Sunday roast chicken lunch. Key contact sites in the domestic kitchen were sampled, including the chicken carcass before and after the preparation of a roast chicken meal.