Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Listeria monocytogenes Isolated in Chicken Slaughterhouses in Northern Greece

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Listeria monocytogenes recovered from chicken carcasses in slaughterhouses in Northern Greece. A total of 100 poultry samples (300 carcasses) were examined for Listeria spp. The samples were neck skin taken from four different slaughterhouses in Northern Greece. Forty samples were also taken from the environment of the slaughterhouses. Identification of L. monocytogenes was carried out by PCR and fingerprinting of the isolates by random amplified polymorphic DNA. L. monocytogenes strains isolated from chicken carcasses and from the environment of the slaughterhouses were also examined for antibiotic resistance. Fifty-five isolates of L. monocytogenes were tested for susceptibility to 20 antibiotics using the disk diffusion method. Listeria spp. were present in 99 of the poultry samples tested (99%), and 38 yielded L monocytogenes (38%). L. monocytogenes was also isolated in 80% of samples from the environment of a certain slaughterhouse, while the other slaughterhouses were found to be contaminated only with Listeria spp. All isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and oxolinic acid, the majority of them to clindamycin, and only a few to tetracycline and oxytetracycline, whereas they were found to be susceptible to all other antimicrobials. The results of this study demonstrate a high prevalence of L. monocytogenes contamination in chicken carcasses, and all isolates were found to be sensitive to the antimicrobials most commonly used to treat human listeriosis.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Listeria species isolated from poultry products marketed in Iran

“…The high incidence of L. monocytogenes in chicken liver is due to the fact that the product is supplied unpackaged; and could be contaminated during evisceration, transportation and marketing. In previous studies, the rate of contamination with L. monocytogenes in raw poultry products was found to be 22% in the Nordic countries (Gudbjörnsdóttir et al, 2004), 34% in Sri Lanka (Ganasena, Kodikara, Ganepola, & Widanapathirana, 1995), and 38% in northern Greece (Sakaridis et al, 2011); which are higher than the results of this study. However, the reported rate of L. monocytogenes contamination in Italy (Pesavento et al, 2010), Turkey (Yücel et al, 2005) and Jordan (Osaili et al, 2011) are consistent with our results.…”

“…particularly L. monocytogenes to ampicillin and penicillin (Table 2), the drugs of choice for treatment of listeriosis. Ayaz and Erol (2010) found that most of the L. monocytogenes strains isolated from ground turkey were resistant to ampicillin and penicillin, whereas the other researchers (Alonso-Hernando, Prieto, García-Fernández, Alonso-Calleja, & Capita, 2012;Davis & Jackson, 2009;Sakaridis et al, 2011) reported a high susceptibility of L. monocytogenes to these antimicrobials. The results of high antimicrobial resistance rate to fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin) and tetracycline in this study could be explained by the frequent use of these antimicrobials to treat infection in Iranian poultry farms.…”

“…In previous studies, the rate of contamination with Listeria spp. in various poultry products ranged from 8% to 99% (Chen, Zhang, Mei, Jiang, & Fang, 2009;Lawrence & Gilmour, 1994;Osaili et al, 2011;Pesavento, Ducci, Nieri, Comodo, & Lo Nostro, 2010;Sakaridis et al, 2011;Yücel, Çitak, & Önder, 2005).…”

Occurrence of food‐borne pathogens and process hygiene indicators in three Italian poultry slaughterhouses

“…L. monocytogenes was found only in carcass swabs (CS, 26%) and samples obtained by the skin excision method (EX, 4%) almost all in Sa . The recovery of L. monocytogenes from fresh poultry is not surprising: in previous studies, the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in poultry ranged from 12 to 38% (Ganasena, Kodikara, Ganepola, and Widanapathirana, ; Gudbjörnsdóttir et al, ; Osaili et al, ; Pesavento, Ducci, Nieri, Comodo, and Lo Nostro, ; Sakaridis et al, ; Yücel, Çitak, and Önder, ). Although the post‐cooking contamination of RTE poultry products is prevalent and in general not poultry‐source derived (Osaili et al, ) raw poultry was confirmed as a potential source of L. monocytogenes contamination of RTE products after cooking (Bailey et al, ; Jamali et al, ; Uyttendale et al, ).…”

Zoonotic Public Health Hazards in Backyard Chickens

“…Only one L. monocytogenes isolate originating from a boot sock sample was resistant to ciprofloxacin, but all isolates showed resistance to oxacillin and clindamycin. Resistance to oxacillin and clindamycin is common and reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin has also been reported (Pesavento et al., ; Sakaridis et al., ; Shen et al., ). However, tetracycline resistance, which has frequently been detected in L. monocytogenes isolated from poultry and poultry products, was not found in our study (Sakaridis et al., ; Shen et al., ).…”