Large Multicountry Outbreak of Invasive Listeriosis by a Listeria monocytogenes ST394 Clone Linked to Smoked Rainbow Trout, 2020 to 2021

Halbedel, Sven; Sperle, Ida; Lachmann, Raskit; Kleta, Sylvia; Fischer, Martin; Wamp, Sabrina; Holzer, Alexandra; Lüth, Stefanie; Murr, Larissa; Freitag, Christin; Espenhain, Laura; Stephan, Roger; Pietzka, Ariane; Schjørring, Susanne; Bloemberg, Guido V.; Wenning, Mareike; Dahouk, Sascha Al; Wilking, Hendrik; Flieger, Antje

doi:10.1128/spectrum.03520-22

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…A persistent ST451 strain was identified in a rabbit meat processing plant in the Czech Republic [62] and was found as the most prevalent CC, particularly in food and animal isolates during the 11-year study in Slovakia [63]. Recently, a large multi-country outbreak of invasive listeriosis by the L. monocytogenes ST394 clone linked to smoked rainbow trout was reported [64]. It can be assumed that these CCs/STs, classified as strong biofilm formers in our study, may be favored in terms of survival and subsequent dissemination in food-related environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Biofilm Phenotypes and Biofilm-Associated Genes in Food-Related Listeria monocytogenes Strains

Burdová,

Véghová,

Minarovičová

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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Listeria monocytogenes is an important pathogen responsible for listeriosis, a serious foodborne illness associated with high mortality rates. Therefore, L. monocytogenes is considered a challenge for the food industry due to the ability of some strains to persist in food-associated environments. Biofilm production is presumed to contribute to increased L. monocytogenes resistance and persistence. The aims of this study were to (1) assess the biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes isolates from a meat processing facility and sheep farm previously characterized and subjected to whole-genome sequencing and (2) perform a comparative genomic analysis to compare the biofilm formation and the presence of a known set of biofilm-associated genes and related resistance or persistence markers. Among the 37 L. monocytogenes isolates of 15 sequence types and four serogroups involved in this study, 14%, 62%, and 24% resulted in the formation of weak, moderate, and strong biofilm, respectively. Increased biofilm-forming ability was associated with the presence of the stress survival islet 1 (SSI-1), inlL, and the truncated inlA genes. Combining the phenotypic and genotypic data may contribute to understanding the relationships between biofilm-associated genes and L. monocytogenes biofilm-forming ability, enabling improvement in the control of this foodborne pathogen.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Biofilm Phenotypes and Biofilm-Associated Genes in Food-Related Listeria monocytogenes Strains

Burdová,

Véghová,

Minarovičová

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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“…Outbreaks, mainly relating to the consumption of RTE foods (cold smoked salmon, meat and meat products, dairy products and frozen vegetables) are not necessarily linked to social and community events, but to consumption of these RTE foods in households (ECDC and EFSA, 2018a , 2018b , 2019 ). Particularly, it is important to continue raising awareness of listeriosis and its risks associated with certain consumption habits and types of food in risk groups (ECDC and EFSA, 2018a , 2018b ; EFSA BIOHAZ Panel et al., 2018 ; ECDC and EFSA, 2019 ; Fernández‐Martínez et al., 2022 ; Halbedel et al., 2023 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The molecular characterisation of clinical isolates of Listeria is based on WGS, combined with core genome multi‐locus sequence typing (cgMLST) for strain typing. Almost all MSs have moved from pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) (Fernández‐Martínez et al., 2022 ; Halbedel et al., 2023 ) to WGS (ECDC, 2019 ), ensuring greater accuracy in typing L. monocytogenes . Prior to the use of WGS, a system of rapid and accurate identification of clusters was lacking in sensitivity and, at the European level, many outbreaks were not detected early (Van Walle et al., 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Union One Health 2022 Zoonoses Report

2023

EFS2

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This report by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of the zoonoses monitoring and surveillance activities carried out in 2022 in 27 Member States (MSs), the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) and 11 non-MSs. Key statistics on zoonoses and zoonotic agents in humans, food, animals and feed are provided and interpreted historically. In 2022, the first and second most reported zoonoses in humans were campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis, respectively. The number of cases of campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis remained stable in comparison with 2021. Nineteen MSs and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) achieved all the established targets in poultry populations for the reduction of Salmonella prevalence for the relevant serovars. Salmonella samples from carcases of various animal species, and samples for Campylobacter quantification from broiler carcases, were more frequently positive when performed by the competent authorities than when own checks were conducted. Yersiniosis was the third most reported zoonosis in humans, followed by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Listeria monocytogenes infections. L. monocytogenes and West Nile virus infections were the most severe zoonotic diseases, with the most hospitalisations and highest case fatality rates. In 2022, reporting showed an increase of more than 600% compared with 2021 in locally acquired cases of human West Nile virus infection, which is a mosquito-borne disease. In the EU, the number of reported foodborne outbreaks and cases, hospitalisations and deaths was higher in 2022 than in 2021. The number of deaths from outbreaks was the highest ever reported in the EU in the last 10 years, mainly caused by L. monocytogenes and to a lesser degree by Salmonella. Salmonella and in particular S. Enteritidis remained the most frequently reported causative agent for foodborne outbreaks. Norovirus (and other calicivirus) was the agent associated with the highest number of outbreak human cases. This report also provides updates on brucellosis, Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), echinococcosis, rabies, toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (focusing on Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae) and tularaemia.

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“…Twenty-one cgMLST clusters included ≥10 isolates out of which several clusters (Epsilon1a, Ny9, Sigma1) had been traced back to their infection sources and stopped (18,31,42) (Tab. 1).…”

Section: Significant German Listeriosis Clusters In 2018-2021mentioning

confidence: 99%

High density genomic surveillance and risk profiling of clinical Listeria monocytogenes subtypes in Germany, 2018-2021

Halbedel,

Wamp,

Lachmann

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Foodborne infections represent a significant public health concern, particularly when outbreaks affect many individuals over prolonged time. Systematic collection of pathogen isolates from infected patients, whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses allow recognition and termination of outbreaks after source identification and risk profiling of abundant lineages. We here present a multi-dimensional analysis of >1,800 genome sequences from clinical L. monocytogenes isolates collected in Germany between 2018-2021. These isolates covered 62% of all notified cases and belonged to 188 infection clusters. 42% of these clusters were active for >12 months, 60% generated cases cross-regionally, including 11 multinational clusters. 37% of the clusters were caused by sequence type (ST) ST6, ST8 and ST1 clones and for selected clusters, we provide further epidemiological and genetic information. Frequencies of materno-fetal and brain infections allowed risk profiling of the most abundant STs, differentiating ST1 as hyper- and ST8, ST14, ST29 as well as ST155 as hypovirulent from ST6 with average virulence potential. Hepatocyte infection experiments confirmed these virulence differences. Inactivating mutations were found in several virulence and house-keeping genes, particularly in hypovirulent STs. Our work supports prioritization of clusters for epidemiological investigations and reinforces the need to analyse the mechanisms underlying hyper- and hypovirulence.

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Large Multicountry Outbreak of Invasive Listeriosis by a Listeria monocytogenes ST394 Clone Linked to Smoked Rainbow Trout, 2020 to 2021

Abstract: Listeriosis is a severe infectious disease in humans and characterized by an exceptionally high case fatality rate. The disease is transmitted through consumption of food contaminated by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes .

Cited by 4 publications

References 64 publications

The Relationship between Biofilm Phenotypes and Biofilm-Associated Genes in Food-Related Listeria monocytogenes Strains

The Relationship between Biofilm Phenotypes and Biofilm-Associated Genes in Food-Related Listeria monocytogenes Strains

The European Union One Health 2022 Zoonoses Report

High density genomic surveillance and risk profiling of clinical Listeria monocytogenes subtypes in Germany, 2018-2021

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