A small outbreak of listeriosis potentially linked to the consumption of imitation crab meat

Abstract

A small outbreak of listeriosis involving two previously healthy adults occurred in Ontario. Food samples obtained from the refrigerator of the patients included imitation crab meat, canned black olives, macaroni and vegetable salad, spaghetti sauce with meatballs, mayonnaise and water. All of the samples except the water contained Listeria monocytogenes. The three most heavily contaminated samples were the imitation crab meat, the olives and the salad which contained 2·1 × 109, 1·1 × 107 and 1·3 × 106 cfu g−1, respectively. L. monocytogenes serotype 1/2b was isolated from the patients, as well as from the opened and unopened imitation crab meat. Molecular typing of the isolates by both randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing demonstrated the imitation crab meat and clinical strains to be indistinguishable. Challenge studies performed with a pool of L. monocytogenes strains showed that imitation crab meat, but not olives, supported growth of the organism. In this study we have shown for the first time the potential involvement of imitation crab meat in a small outbreak of listeriosis. In terms of disease prevention, temperature control is critical to prevent or reduce the growth of this foodborne pathogen. In addition, with refrigerated products having a long (> 30 d) shelf life, additional safety factors must be used to prevent the growth of foodborne pathogens such as L. monocytogenes.

Time–temperature profiles of chilled ready-to-eat foods in school catering and probabilistic analysis of Listeria monocytogenes growth

“…Farber et al, 1998;Aureli et al 2000;Farber et al, 2000;Pingulkar et al, 2001). Figure 2 presents the empirical histogram of the 287 calculated TTE.…”

Differential inlA and inlB Expression and Interaction with Human Intestinal and Liver Cells by Listeria monocytogenes Strains of Different Origins

“…However, another explanation may be the existence of differences in the virulence potentials of individual strains (4,13,24,26,41,44,51,63,66). Furthermore, the fact that listeriosis also occurs in immunocompetent persons indicates that, besides host immunity, other factors, such as the virulence potential of the L. monocytogenes strain, could play a role in susceptibility to listeriosis (14,32,41,53).…”

Listeria monocytogenes: A Dangerous and Insidious Pathogen in Seafood

“…Smoked fish, in particular, has been accountable for several cases of human infection (Brett et al 1998;Miettinen et al 1999;Tham et al 2000). Other sporadic cases involved the consumption of crabmeat (Faber et al 2000) and shellfish (Croonenberghs 2000). Smoked salmon, especially when stored more than 2-3 weeks and owing to the ability of L. monocytogenes to multiply at low values of temperature and a w , has caused a number of cases (Rørvik 2000;Duffes 1999;Dalgaard and Jørgensen 1998;Schiavo 1996;Dillon et al 1992;Fuchs and Nicolaides 1994;Jemmi and Keusch 1992;Hudson and Mott 1993).…”