Aim:The present study was undertaken with the prime objective of isolating and identifying Listeria spp. from various foods of animal origin sold at retail market outlets in the city of Navsari, Gujarat.Materials and Methods:Total 200 samples comprising of milk, milk products, meat, and fish (50 each) collected aseptically from local market which were subjected first to pre-enrichment in half strength Fraser broth followed by enrichment in full strength Fraser broth and subsequent plating on PALCAM agar. The growth with the typical colony characteristics were further identified up to species level on the basis of their morphological and biochemical characteristics. Cultures identified as Listeria monocytogenes were further subjected to in vitro pathogenicity tests and detection of different virulence-associated genes viz. actA, hlyA, and iap using polymerase chain reaction.Results:Of the total 200 food samples of animal origin; 18 (9%) were found positive for Listeria spp. which were identified as Listeria seeligeri (6, 33.3%), Listeria innocua (5, 27.7%), Listeria welshimeri (4, 22.2%), and L. monocytogenes (3, 16.6%). The highest prevalence was observed in milk samples (8). Species wise, 6 isolates of L. seeligeri which included two each from cow milk, buffalo milk, and meat samples; 5 L. innocua isolates included four recovered from fish and one from meat sample; 4 L. welshimeri comprised of two isolates from ice cream and one each from buffalo milk and meat sample; and 3 isolates of L. monocytogenes recovered from milk (1 cow and 2 buffalo milk). All 3 L. monocytogenes isolates screened for the presence of virulence genes viz. actA, hlyA, and iap using the specific primers revealed the presence of all the genes suggesting the possibility of danger of foodborne listeriosis among raw milk consumers.Conclusion:Listeria spp. was isolated from 9% (18/200) of the animal origin food samples viz.; milk, milk products, meat, and fish with the highest prevalence in the milk samples. L. monocytogenes was isolated from 3 milk samples only. L. seeligeri was the predominant species isolated followed by L. innocua, L. welshimeri, and L. monocytogenes in this study. L. monocytogenes were found to carry virulence genes like actA, hly A, and iap genes suggesting the pathogenic potential of these isolates.

Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) are causative agents of bloody diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis (HC) and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). Humans acquire infections primarily through contaminated beef. In India, STEC has not been implicated as a major cause of diarrhoea. The study was carried out to know the prevalence of shiga toxin (ST) producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and virulence genes characterization from buffalo meat samples sold at various retail meat shops at Anand, India. In the present investigation 70 isolates of Escherichia coli isolated from 150 retail market buffalo meat samples, were screened for STEC, using conventional culture methods, serotyping and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Out of 70 E. coli isolates 11 different 'O' serogroups were recorded in 44 isolates. While 19 isolates were untypable and seven were rough isolates. Out of the 70 E. coli tested 56 isolates (80%) were positive for stx genes: of which 51 (72.85%) harboured stx2 genes and 2 isolates (2.85%) were positive for stx1 gene only. Moreover, 3 E. coli isolates (4.28%) harboured both stx1 and stx2. About 66 (94.28%) isolates were positive for eaeA gene. While out of 70 E. coli isolates tested, 3 (4.28%) were found to be positive for rfb O157 gene. Presence of STEC and other virulence factors in buffalo meat samples appeared to be matter of concern and threat to public health.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was introduced in the year

Epidemiologists are adopting new techniques by the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) to study a variety of animal and zoonotic diseases. Associations between satellite-derived environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, land cover type and vector density is used for disease prediction. Early warning systems rapidly detect the introduction or sudden increase in incidence of any disease of livestock which has the potential to develop into epidemic proportions and/or cause serious socioeconomic consequences or public health concerns. Early warning activities, mainly based on disease surveillance, reporting, and epidemiological analysis, are supported by information systems that enable integration, analysis and sharing of animal health data combined with relevant layers of information such as socioeconomic, production and climatic data. The convergence of factors such as the availability of multi-temporal satellite data and georeferenced epidemiological data, collaboration between scientists, biologists and the availability of sophisticated, statistical GIS creates a fertile research environment. In this paper, we review the Global Early Warning System (GLEWS) that formally brings together human and veterinary public health systems and application of environmental data for study of diseases like avian influenza and Rift valley fever which offers the capability to demonstrate vector-environment relationships and potentially forecast the risk of disease outbreaks or epidemics. An emphasis is also given on components of early warning system and its use for forecasting of animal and zoonotic diseases in India.

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