Antimicrobial use surveillance in broiler chicken flocks in Canada, 2013-2015.

There is a paucity of data on the reason for and the quantity of antimicrobials used in broiler chickens in Canada. To address this, the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) implemented surveillance of antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in broiler chicken flocks in 2013. Shortly after this (2014), the poultry industry banned the preventive use of ceftiofur in broiler chickens.

Food safety considerations for innovative nutrition solutions.

Failure to secure safe and affordable food to the growing global population leads far too often to disastrous consequences. Among specialists and other individuals, food scientists have a key responsibility to improve and use science-based tools to address risk and advise food handlers and manufacturers with best-practice recommendations. With collaboration from production agriculture, food processors, state and federal agencies, and consumers, it is critical to implement science-based strategies that address food safety and that have been evaluated for effectiveness in controlling and/or eliminating hazards.

Evaluation of U.S. Poison Center Data for Surveillance of Foodborne Disease.

Introduction: Enhancing foodborne disease (FBD) surveillance and improving the timeliness of outbreak detection have been identified as public health priorities. Consumer complaint data have become increasingly useful for FBD surveillance and the detection of outbreaks. Calls to poison centers are a potential source of consumer complaint data.

Relative risk of irritable bowel syndrome following acute gastroenteritis and associated risk factors.

A prospective cohort study using electronic medical records was undertaken to estimate the relative risk (RR) of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) following acute gastroenteritis (GE) in primary-care patients in The Netherlands and explore risk factors. Patients aged 18-70 years who consulted for GE symptoms from 1998 to 2009, met inclusion/exclusion criteria and had at least 1 year of follow-up data were included. Patients with non-GE consultations, matched by age, gender, consulting practice and time of visit, served as the reference group.

Listeria rocourtiae sp. nov.

A Listeria-like strain isolated in Austria from pre-cut lettuce fitted the description of the genus Listeria although it could not be assigned to any of the known species. Comparison of the rrs gene (encoding 16S rRNA) sequence and gene content by DNA-array indicated affiliation to the genus Listeria. Phylogenetic distance from known species of the genus Listeria indicated that it represents a novel species.

Genetic diversity of Listeria monocytogenes recovered from infected persons and pork, seafood and dairy products on retail sale in France during 2000 and 2001.

Growth of the food-borne human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes to large numbers in ready-to-eat food products greatly increases the risk of disease for susceptible consumers. A better knowledge of the population structure of L. monocytogenes present in retailed food could allow better prevention strategies to be developed.

Use of DNA arrays for the analysis of outbreak-related strains of Listeria monocytogenes.

We evaluated the discriminative power and usefulness of the DNA array technology as compared to DNA macrorestriction pattern analysis for monitoring epidemiologically related clusters of Listeria monocytogenes strains that differ slightly in DNA macrorestriction patterns. We show that this approach allows clarifying the genetic basis of the pattern variations. In the reported outbreak, the differences were due to phage excision, showing the power of this technique in epidemiological studies.

Multicenter validation of a multiplex PCR assay for differentiating the major Listeria monocytogenes serovars 1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c, and 4b: toward an international standard.

The performance of a multiplex PCR assay that separates the four major serovars of the pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes into four distinct PCR groups was evaluated through a multicenter typing study. Identical panels of 90 Listeria isolates were distributed to five participating laboratories that were blind to the nature of the isolates. Isolates were characterized using the previously standardized protocol.

Differentiation of the major Listeria monocytogenes serovars by multiplex PCR.

A new multiplex PCR assay was developed to separate the four major Listeria monocytogenes serovars isolated from food and patients (1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c, and 4b) into distinct groups. The PCR test, which constitutes a rapid and practical alternative to laborious classical serotyping, was successfully evaluated with 222 Listeria strains.

A molecular marker for evaluating the pathogenic potential of foodborne Listeria monocytogenes.

Background: Internalin mediates entry of Listeria monocytogenes into some human cultured cell lines and crossing of the intestinal barrier in transgenic mice expressing its receptor, human E-cadherin, in enterocytes. The relevance of these findings for humans is challenged by the observation that some L. monocytogenes isolates express a truncated nonfunctional form of internalin.

New aspects regarding evolution and virulence of Listeria monocytogenes revealed by comparative genomics and DNA arrays.

Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne bacterial pathogen that causes a wide spectrum of diseases, such as meningitis, septicemia, abortion, and gastroenteritis, in humans and animals. Among the 13 L. monocytogenes serovars described, invasive disease is mostly associated with serovar 4b strains.

Expression of ActA, Ami, InlB, and listeriolysin O in Listeria monocytogenes of human and food origin.

Expression of proteins involved in the adhesion of Listeria monocytogenes to mammalian cells or in the intracellular life cycle of this bacterium, including listeriolysin O (LLO), ActA, Ami, and InlB, was used to compare two populations of L. monocytogenes strains. One of the populations comprised 300 clinical strains, and the other comprised 150 food strains.

Epidemiology of human listeriosis and seafoods.

While rarely diagnosed prior to 1960, more than 10,000 cases of listeriosis were recorded in the medical literature between 1960 and 1982, and thousands more have been reported annually world-wide [Rocourt J., 1991. Human listeriosis, 1989.

Typing of Listeria monocytogenes by monocin and phage receptors.

One hundred strains of Listeria monocytogenes from both sporadic and epidemic cases were typed by monocin production combined with phage receptor and reverse phage receptor methods. The monocin-phage combination gave 72 types with 100% typability and 97% reproducibility. The results were compared to those of serotyping, phage typing, ribotyping, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, restriction enzyme analysis and RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA).

Investigations related to the epidemic strain involved in the French listeriosis outbreak in 1992.

Two hundred seventy-nine cases of human listeriosis (92 pregnancy-related cases and 187 non-pregnancy-related cases) caused by a serovar 4b and phagovar 2389:2425:3274:2671:47:108:340 strain were identified in France between March and December 1992. Epidemiological investigations included a case-control study (not described here) and microbiological analyses of foods. Results of the case-control study and characterization of food isolates identified pork tongue in jelly, a ready-to-eat meat product, as the major vehicle of this outbreak, and to a lesser extent, delicatessen products contaminated secondarily during handling in food stores.

Virulence Heterogeneity of Listeria monocytogenes Strains From Various Sources (Food, Human, Animal) in Immunocompetent Mice and its Association With Typing Characteristics.

One hundred and twenty-five Listeria monocytogenes strains were screened for their ability to infect immunocompetent white Swiss mice. Mice were infected by intravenous injection of 2.5 × 10 to 7.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis applied for comparing Listeria monocytogenes strains involved in outbreaks.

Recent food-borne outbreaks of human listeriosis as well as numerous sporadic cases have been mainly caused by Listeria monocytogenes serovar 4b strains. Thus, it was of interest to find out whether a certain clone or a certain few clones were responsible for these cases and especially for outbreaks. We used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of large chromosomal DNA restriction fragments generated by ApaI, SmaI, or NotI to analyse 75 L.