Prevalence, PFGE Typing, and Antibiotic Resistance ofBacillus cereusGroup Isolated from Food in Morocco

Abstract

This article reports the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of the Bacillus cereus group isolated from different foods (milk and dairy products, spices, and rice salad) in Morocco. In total, 402 different food samples collected from 2008 to 2010 were analyzed by microbiological methods to isolate B. cereus. The strains were subjected to a polymerase chain reaction test in order to verify whether they belonged to the B. cereus group. Sixty-four of all isolates (15.9%) were found to be positive. Among the sources, B. cereus strains from milk and dairy products constituted the largest proportion of isolates (33/64; 51.6%) followed by spices (22/64; 34.4%) and salad with rice (9/64; 14.1%). The genetic diversity of the strains of B. cereus group was examined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of chromosomal DNA digested with SmaI. The enzyme restriction profiles showed a high degree of polymorphism among the strains. The results showed that PFGE analysis could reveal the genetic differences among B. cereus strains. Investigation of antibiotic-resistance profiles showed that isolates were resistant to ampicillin (98.4%), tetracycline (90.6%), oxacillin (100%), cefepime (100%), and penicillin (100%), and were susceptible to chloramphenicol (67.2%), erythromycin (84.4%), and gentamicin (100%). The results of this study indicated that B. cereus could be a significant etiological agent of food poisoning in Morocco because of its high prevalence. Also, we demonstrated that the majority of strains came from milk and dairy products. However, additional research involving cytotoxicity tests is needed to more evaluate this sanitary risk.

Prevalence and risk factors for Bacillus cereus in raw milk in Inner Mongolia, Northern China

“…A comparison of the prevalence of B. cereus in raw milk from international studies is shown in Table 1. The prevalence of B. cereus in our study is higher than that Christiansson et al 1999) in Canada (8.5%) (Lina et al 1998), Czechoslovakia (15.5%) (Banyko and Vyletelova 2009) and Finland (20.8%) (Ruusunen et al 2013), but lower than that in Sweden (41.5%) (Svensson et al 2004), Morocco (47.8%) (Merzougui et al 2014). Another recent study from Wisconsin confirmed the presence of B. cereus in 9%, 35%, 14% and 48% of raw milk, pasteurised milk, Cheddar cheese and ice cream samples, respectively (Tewari and Abdullah 2015).…”

“…), Morocco (47.8%) (Merzougui et al . ). Another recent study from Wisconsin confirmed the presence of B. cereus in 9%, 35%, 14% and 48% of raw milk, pasteurised milk, Cheddar cheese and ice cream samples, respectively (Tewari and Abdullah ).…”

“…Bacillus cereus may cause two different types of foodborne disease syndromes: emetic and diarrhoeal (Merzougui et al . ). Bacillus cereus seems to account for between 1.4% and 12% of foodborne illness outbreaks worldwide (Stenfors Arnesen et al .…”

“…Bacillus cereus is a ubiquitous Gram-positive spore-forming bacteria, commonly found in raw or processed foods (Gracias and McKillip 2011;Berthold-Pluta et al 2015). Bacillus cereus may cause two different types of foodborne disease syndromes: emetic and diarrhoeal (Merzougui et al 2014). Bacillus cereus seems to account for between 1.4% and 12% of foodborne illness outbreaks worldwide (Stenfors Arnesen et al 2008).…”

Enterotoxigenic structures of Bacillus cereus strains isolated from ice creams

“…Rather, Aulakh, Gill, Verma, and Rao (), detected B. cereus presence of 33,33% in raw milk and 37.83% in pasteurized milk samples. Merzougui, Lkhider, Grosset, Gautier, and Cohen () reported of B. cereus contamination of 51.6% in milk and dairy products. Cosentino, Mulargia, Pisano, Tuveri, and Palmas () reported the existence of Bacillus spp.…”