Publications by authors named "Patricia M Desmarchelier"

Background: Salmonella is a major cause of zoonotic illness around the world, arising from direct or indirect contact with a range of animal reservoirs. In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), salmonellosis is believed to be primarily foodborne, but the relative contribution of animal reservoirs is unknown.

Methods: The analysis included 4543 serotyped isolates from animal reservoirs and 30,073 serotyped isolates from domestically acquired human cases in NSW between January 2008 and August 2019.

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Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have been associated with a broad spectrum of diarrhoeal syndromes. Some of these cases have been attributed to foods of bovine origin or other foods cross-contaminated by beef products or cow manure. The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of STEC distribution in selected red meats over time.

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The emergence of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic and commensal bacteria has become a serious problem worldwide. The use and overuse of antibiotics in a number of settings are contributing to the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. The class 1 and 2 integrase genes (intI1 and intI2, respectively) were identified in mixed bacterial cultures enriched from bovine feces by growth in buffered peptone water (BPW) followed by integrase-specific PCR.

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Stx2d is a recently described Shiga toxin whose cytotoxicity is activated 10- to 1000-fold by the elastase present in mouse or human intestinal mucus. We examined Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) strains isolated from food and livestock sources for the presence of activatable stx(2d). The stx(2) operons of STEC were first analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and categorized as stx(2), stx(2c vha), stx(2c vhb), or stx(2d EH250).

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Food borne transmission of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) was first reported in Australia in 1995 when an outbreak of HUS due to Escherichia coli O111 occurred following the consumption of locally produced mettwurst. Federal and state health and food authorities responded rapidly to bring the outbreak under control. Longer-term responses include the introduction by regulatory authorities of a code of practice for uncooked fermented comminuted meat products, the provision of government and industry funds to support the implementation of this code, and research into the ecology and epidemiology of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and the safe production of meat.

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