The present study evaluated the incidence of Listeria spp. in some Brazilian cheeses obtained from retail stores in Rio de Janeiro. Of 103 samples of various types of cheese examined as recommended in the Listeria isolation protocol of the Health Protection Branch of Canada, 11 (10.68%) were contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes, 13 (12.62%) by Listeria innocua, 6 (5.83%) by Listeria grayi, and 1 (0.97%) by Listeria welshimeri. A higher incidence of L. monocytogenes was observed mainly in the homemade Minas Frescal cheeses (a Brazilian soft white cheese, eaten fresh), 7 of 17 (41.17%), followed by ripened cheeses, 3 of 53 (5.67%), and industrially manufactured Frescal (Minas and Ricotta) cheeses, 1 of 33 (3.03%). Three serotypes (l/2a, l/2b and 4b) were observed among the strains of L. monocytogenes isolated, all of them being frequently involved in outbreaks of foodborne listeriosis and sporadic cases of the disease all over the world.

Raw beef samples (n = 105) were examined for diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) using standard methods. The isolates obtained (n = 1,066) were screened for Shiga-like toxins (SLT-I and SLT-II), cytolethal distending toxin (CLDT), enterotoxins (LT-I and STa), and classical enteropathogenic (EPEC) and enteroinvasive (EIEC) serogroups. Seventy-three (6.8%) DEC isolates representing 42 strains isolated from 34 (32.4%) beef samples were detected. SLT-producing E. coli (SLTEC) was the most frequent DEC category found and corresponded to 21 (50%) of the 42 DEC strains. Several serotypes were detected among the SLTEC and some of them have been found previously in animal and human isolates, but E. coli O157:H7 was not isolated. Other virulence markers found in DEC strains included enterotoxin production (38.1%), CLDT (7.1%), and EPEC serogroups (4.3%). This is the first report of CLDT-producing E. coli (CLDTEC) isolated from food samples in Brazil. Production of both SLT-I and LT-I was found in one E. coli isolate, and 3 beef samples harbored both SLTEC and ETEC strains. Although a high frequency of DEC groups was found in commercial beef samples in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil, the significance of these strains as agents of human diarrhea remains to be established.

Nosocomial infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. It has been shown that appropriate environmental hygienic and disinfection practices can be very helpful to hospital infection control. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bactericidal activity of some disinfectants against antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant hospital bacterial isolates. The susceptibility of 27 clinical isolates to disinfectants and antibiotics was determined by the Association of Official Analytical Chemist's (AOAC) Use-Dilution method and by the Kirby-Bauer method, respectively. All strains tested were susceptible to sodium hypochlorite, glutaraldehyde and to the association quaternary ammoniumformaldehyde -ethyl alcohol disinfectants. However, the susceptibility of strains to phenol and to one quaternary ammonium compound was variable. Among twenty-one antibiotic-multiresistant strains (methicillin-resistant staphylococci, Enterococcus spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens and Escherichia coli) eleven (52%) and eight (38%) strains were resistant to the quaternary ammonium and phenol compounds, respectively. Among six isolates that demonstrated susceptibility to antibiotics (staphylococci, Enterococcus spp, P. mirabilis, E. cloacae and E. coli) two strains (33%) showed resistance to these disinfectants. The results demonstrated the lack of correlation between antibiotic-susceptibility and susceptibility to disinfectants in hospital strains.

No abstract

No abstract

Tonsils and inguinal, mesenteric, and prescapular lymph node samples collected from 115 swine carcasses from two abattoirs and a family-run operation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were cultured for the presence of Salmonella species. Salmonella spp. were detected in 40 (34.8%) of the swine samples with the following distribution; tonsils (31/40, 77.5%), mesenteric lymph nodes (16/40, 40.0%), inguinal lymph nodes, (9/40, 22.5%), and prescapular lymph nodes (7/40, 17.5%), Scalding tank water and environmental swabs collected from the abattoirs were also analyzed. Salmonella spp. were recovered from 13 of 51 (22.5%) of the environmental samples from one of the two abattoirs, none from those from the other abattoir. Salmonella spp. were recovered from the evisceration tables (5/11, 45.5%), the killing room (3/10, 30.0%), the holding pen (2/10, 20.0%), the butchering saw (2/10, 20.0%), and the scalding tank (1/10, 10.0%). The most frequently detected serovar was Salmonella Muenster. The results show the necessity of adopting more effective hygienic measures in the abattoirs as well as in the areas where swine are raised in order to reduce the role of abattoirs and storage facilities in the spread of Salmonella contamination.

Escherichia coli strains of non-EPEC serotypes that carry eae and lack the EAF and the Shiga toxin (stx) gene sequences have been found in acute diarrhea. Both the cell association and the cell entry of these strains in human intestinal epithelial cells were studied as a function of cell differentiation and polarization. The eae+/EAF-/stx- non-EPEC E. coli strains invaded undifferentiated Caco-2 cells more efficiently than differentiated cells. In contrast, prototype EPEC strain E2348/69 did not show significative differences from invasion rates of undifferentiated and differentiated cells. The uptake of these strains was greatly enhanced by pretreatment of differentiated Caco-2 cells with EGTA. These results suggest that the eae+/EAF-/stx- non-EPEC E. coli invasion of intestinal cells may be dependent on receptors expressed on the surface of undifferentiated cells and the basolateral pole of differentiated cells.

Thirty-seven (16.9%) of 219 raw milk samples and 38 (13.7%) of 280 pasteurized milk samples were positive for Yersinia sp. The isolates from raw milk samples include Yersinia enterocolitica (32.4%) comprising biotype 1 (0:5, 10.8%), and biotype 2 (0:10 K1, 1.6%); Yersinia intermedia (64.9%) comprising 0:18 (40.5%), 0:7,8 (8.1%), 0:16 (2,7%) and non-typable (13.5%) and Yersinia frederiksenii (0:22, 2.7%). The isolates from pasteurized milk samples include Y. enterocolitica (41.5%) comprising 0:5 (31.7%), 0:13 (2.4%), 0:7,8 (2.4%) and 0:16 (4.8%); Y. frederiksenii (56.1%) comprising 0:27 (7.3%), 0:25,35 (12.2%), non-typable (36.6%) and Y. intermedia (non-typable, 2.4%). Most Y. enterocolitica and about one third of non-Y. enterocolitica strains produce heat-stable toxin (ST). Antibiotic susceptibility, autoagglutination capacity and calcium-dependency of strains also were investigated.