No abstract

Bovine norovirus (BoNoV) is an important cause of diarrhea in calves and has been reported in several countries. The aims of this study were to investigate for the first time the presence of norovirus in Turkish calves by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and to determine the phylogeny of any circulating strains. Fecal samples from 70 diarrheic calves were collected and analysed by SYBR Green qRT-PCR. BoNoV was detected in fecal samples from six calves. The capsid gene was partially sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. This showed that the six Turkish BoNoVs clustered with the GIII-2 prototype.

We investigated the prevalence of contamination of retail-level beef, mutton, and broiler carcasses in Istanbul, Turkey, by thermophilic Campylobacter spp. (TCS) and determined antimicrobial susceptibilities of the TCS strains isolated from these carcasses. From November 2005 to October 2006, 198 beef and 120 mutton carcass excision samples, and 232 chicken carcasses (whole and pieces) were randomly collected from different retail stores and meat-processing plants in Istanbul. TCS were isolated from 11.1%, 21.6%, and 50.4% of beef, mutton, and chicken samples tested, respectively. There was no significant seasonal variation in the prevalence of TCS. A total of 292 Campylobacter isolates were obtained from the samples (56.5% C. jejuni, 33.9% C. Coli, and 9.6% C. lari). C. jejuni was the species most commonly isolated from chicken meat (56.5%<65.9 from table 2>), while C. coli was the most common in beef (63.3%) and mutton (63.9%) carcasses. Susceptibilities of 246 strains for eight antimicrobial drugs were determined using disk diffusion assay. Campylobacter isolates were most often resistant to tetracycline (69.1%), followed by trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (64.2%), nalidixic acid (58.1%), erythromycin (56.9%), enrofloxacin (48.8%), ciprofloxacin (42.7%), chloramphenicol (36.2%), and gentamicin (26.0%). The results of this study suggest that a high proportion of meat samples, particularly chicken carcasses, are contaminated by TCS, most of which are antimicrobial-resistant strains. Since campylobacteriosis is transmitted primarily through food of animal origin, the presence of antimicrobial-resistant strains in meat has important implications for public health and food safety.

No abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial effects of chopped garlic in ground beef and raw meatball (çig köfte), which is a traditional food product eaten raw. Fresh minced ground beef and raw meatball batter prepared with traditional methods were separated into groups. Chopped and crushed garlic was added to each batch in order to reach various concentrations from 0% to 10%. The ground beef samples were stored at refrigerator and ambient temperatures. The raw meatball samples were only stored at room temperature. All samples were analyzed in order to determine the microbial counts at the 2(nd), 6(th), 12(th), and 24(th) hours of storage. Garlic addition decreased the microbial growth in some ground beef samples kept either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. However, microbial growth increased in some ground beef samples kept in similar conditions. The difference was found in samples kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours in terms of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and coliform bacteria when garlic used at 10%. The effects of garlic on the microbial growth of both coliforms and Staphylococcus/Micrococcus in the samples kept at room temperature were increased. The yeast and mold counts in ground beef samples kept in any condition were not affected by garlic addition. However, the addition of garlic to the raw meatball mix decreased the microbial count, in terms of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and yeast and mold counts, when the garlic was added at 5% or 10% (P < .05). The addition of 10% garlic to raw meatball caused a permanent decrease in yeast and mold count, unlike in ground beef. The results of this study indicate that the chopped garlic has a slowing-down effect on microbiological growth in ground meat depending on the garlic concentration, but this effect was not at an expected level even at the highest concentration, because potential antimicrobial agents in chopped garlic were probably insufficiently extracted.