Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is endemic in Eurasian countries such as, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. CCHF virus is spread by the Hyalomma tick, which is found mainly on cattle and sheep. Muslim countries, in which these animals are sacrificed during Eid-Al-Adha, are among the countries where CCHF is endemic, and it has been observed that CCHF is associated with practices surrounding the Eid-ad-Adha festival. The dates for Eid-Al-Adha drift 10 days earlier in each year according to Georgian calendar. In previous years Eid-al-Adha occurred in autumn-winter months however in the next 10-15 years it will be take place in the summer months when CCHF is more prevalent. This may lead to a rise in the number of cases due to increased dissemination of CCHF virus with uncontrolled animal movements in and between countries. This consensus report focuses on the variable practices regarding animal handling in different regions and possible preventative measures to reduce the incidence of CCHF. Environmental hygiene and personal protection are essential parts of prevention. There is a need for international collaborative preparedness and response plans for prevention and management of CCHF during Eid-Al-Adha in countries where the disease is prevalent.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in 122 samples, including 60 raw milk, 32 white cheese, 10 kashar cheese, 10 butter, and 10 ice cream samples obtained from Samsun province, Turkey. In this study, S. aureus was detected in 64 samples, including raw milk (45/60; 75%), white cheese (12/32; 37.5%), kashar cheese (3/10; 30%), butter (3/10; 30%), and ice cream (1/10; 10%) samples. A total of 81 isolates were identified as S. aureus by PCR with the presence of 16S rRNA and nuc genes. The presence of genes encoding the staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) SEA, SEB, SEC, and SED was detected by multiplex PCR. According to the analysis, seven isolates from the raw milk samples (7/51; 13.7%) were enterotoxigenic; five of them produced SEA (5/7; 71.4%), one produced SEB (1/7; 14.2%), and one produced SEA+SEB (1/7; 14.2%). Four isolates from the white cheese samples (4/21; 19%) produced the SEA (1/4; 25%), SEC (1/4; 25%), SED (1/4; 25%), and SEA+SED (1/4; 25%) toxins. Two isolates from the kashar cheese samples (2/4; 50%) were found to be enterotoxigenic; one produced SEA (1/2; 50%) and the other produced SED (1/2; 50%). One isolate from the butter samples (1/4; 25%) showed enterotoxigenic character (SEB, 1/1; 100%). The products were found to be potentially hazardous to public health because of the fact that levels of contamination were higher than 105-106 cfu/g ml in 39% (25/64, 17 raw milk, 7 white cheese, and 1 butter) of the analyzed samples.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of enterotoxigenic and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in ice creams. After culture-based identification of isolates, the presence of 16S rRNA and nuc was confirmed by mPCR. S. aureus was identified in 18 of 56 fruity (32.1%), 4 of 32 vanilla (12.5%), and 1 of 12 chocolate (8.3%) ice creams. S. aureus was identified as 38 isolates in 23 ice cream samples by culture-based techniques, but only 35 isolates were confirmed by PCR as S. aureus. To determine the enterotoxigenic properties of PCR-confirmed S. aureus isolates, a toxin detection kit was used (SET RPLA®). Of the 12 enterotoxigenic S. aureus isolates, 9 SEB (75%), 1 SED (8.3%), 1 SEB+SED (8.3%), and 1 SEA+SEB+SED (8.3%) expressing isolates were found. The presence of enterotoxin genes (sea, seb, sed) was identified in 13 (37.1%) out of 35 isolates by the mPCR technique. In the ice cream isolates, the sea, seb, and sed genes were detected: 1 sea (7.6%), 9 seb (69.2%), 1 sed (7.6%), 1 seb+sed (7.6%), and 1 sea+seb+sed (7.6%), respectively. The sec gene was not detected in any of these isolates. One of the 35 (2.8%) S. aureus strain was mecA positive.

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The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different pretreatment agents such as chitosan (0.5% (w/v), pH 2.9-3.2) and lactic acid (0.5% (v/v), pH 2.5-2.7) on the chemical and sensory qualities of mussels stored at 4ºC. Mussels were dipped in 100 mL of 0.5% solution of lactic acid (v/v) and chitosan (w/v) at room temperature (22ºC) for 15 min. Mussels from the control group were dipped in 100 mL of sterile distiled water (2% NaCl) without chitosan and lactic acid. Treatment of mussels with lactic acid and chitosan at the beginning of the experiment (day 0) for 15 min reduced bacterial counts of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (0.53-1.07 log) psychrotrophic bacteria (0.11-0.13 log), Lactobacillus spp. (0.46-1.30 log), Enterobacteriaceae (0.43-0.48 log) and coliform bacteria (0.52-0.66 log). Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), trimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N) and histamine values of control group mussels were increased from (day 0) 13.1 mg N 100 g , 4.86 mg N 100 g -1 and 7.75 ppm at the end of the storage period (day 11), respectively (P<0.05). The results indicated that shelf-life of mussels stored at 4ºC were limited to 4 days in the control group. However, mussels pretreated with lactic acid and chitosan were stored for 6-7 days and the shelf-life of mussels was extended for ca. 2-3 days, as compared with the control group (P<0.05).

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IntroductionListeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive foodborne pathogen that causes listeriosis, leading to septicemia, encephalitis, meningitis, and gastroenteritis, particularly in pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and immunosuppressed individuals (1).L. monocytogenes is widely distributed in nature. The organism is commonly found in silage, soil, sewage, fertilizer, vegetable matter, and many foods including cabbage, coleslaw, raw milk and dairy products, meat, poultry, and their products (2). The other important source of L. monocytogenes infection is consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods such as cooked meats, desserts, sandwiches, cheese from either raw or pasteurized milk, and fish products. These foods are not cooked or reheated before serving. Therefore L. monocytogenes can survive and grow under refrigerated conditions in packaged RTE foods (3,4). Several outbreaks of listeriosis in the United States in 1998-2008 as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were associated with the consumption of RTE foods. It was reported that 359 people were affected in 24 confirmed listeriosis outbreaks, resulting in 215 hospitalizations and 38 deaths (5).There is little information on the prevalence and contamination levels of L. monocytogenes in RTE foods in Turkey. RTE foods such as Turkish-style tomato dip/ condiment (ezme), stuffed mussels, fried spiced liver, and mayonnaise-based salads are frequently consumed in Turkey. Ingredients and preparation methods of these RTE foods are summarized in Table 1.Conventional bacteriological methods used for the identification of L. monocytogenes are not always reliable and are often time-consuming and laborious. Thus, more reliable, rapid, and cost-effective molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods have been developed for the detection of these pathogens in food (6). The hly gene encoding hemolysin listeriolysin O (LLO), a pore-forming exotoxin with hemolytic activity, is an important virulence factor for the specific detection of L. monocytogenes (7).The increased use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes in animals and humans has led to the development of antibiotic resistance, an important public health concern (8). Studies have shown the existence of L. monocytogenes strains that are resistant to one or more antibiotics such as nalidixic acid, oxacillin, tetracycline, gentamicin,

This study was conducted to investigate the presence of Bacillus cereus in ice cream samples and to identify associated toxin genes by mPCR. 125 ice cream samples were used as material. A total of 38 samples were found to be positive for B. cereus. It was found that 31.9% of the isolates had three enterotoxic HBL complex encoding genes, 10.6% had two hbl genes and 6.3% contained one hbl gene. On the other hand, 15.9% of the isolates contained three NHE complex encoding genes, 31.9% had two nhe genes and 20.2% contained one nhe gene. Also 7.4% of isolates were found to contain both NHE and HBL complexes while ctyK1 was not detected from any isolate. The presence of B. cereus and their enterotoxigenic genes in ice creams may be a potential risk for public health. Practical applications The presence of the B.cereus in high numbers and the toxins in foods pose a potential risk in terms of health and food spoilage. In food poisoning cases, hbl, nhe, cytK, and the effect of emetic toxin are especially notable. The resistance of spores against pasteurization and psychrotolerant feature enable the explanation of the existence of B. cereus in ice‐cream.