Occurrence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Arcobacter spp. Recovered from Aquatic Environments
Arcobacter spp. are emerging waterborne and foodborne zoonotic pathogens responsible for gastroenteritis in humans. In this work, we evaluated the occurrence and the antimicrobial resistance profile of Arcobacter isolates recovered from different aquatic sources. Besides, we searched for Arcobacter spp. in seaweeds and the corresponding seawater samples. Bacteriological and molecular methods applied to 100 samples led to the isolation of 28 Arcobacter isolates from 27 samples. The highest prevalence was detected in rivers followed by artificial ponds, streams, well waters, and spring waters. Seaweeds contained a higher percentage of Arcobacter than the corresponding seawater samples. The is…
Assessment of contamination of <em>Salmonella</em> spp. in imported black pepper and sesame seed and salmonella inactivation by gamma irradiation
This study shows the frequency of seeds samples contaminated by Salmonella spp. collected randomly from local markets; on 30 black pepper sample no contaminated sample was found while Salmonella spp. was detected in 3 of 36 (8.3%) analyzed sesame samples; three different serotypes were identified: S. Montevideo, S. Stanleyville e S. Tilene. The efficacy of gamma irradiation to inactivate Salmonella Montevideo in black pepper and sesame irradiated between 1 and 5 kGy was evaluated. 3 kGy is sufficient to reduce of 3-4 log CFU/g; whereas 5 kGy have been need to reduce 5.5-6 log CFU/g for samples of black pepper and sesame. No statistically significant differences were found between black pepp…
Retrospective study on the hygienic quality of fresh ricotta cheeses produced in Sicily, Italy
The present work was carried out to investigate the microbiological profile of Sicilian ewes’ ricotta cheeses during fifteen years of investigations (2002-2016). The samples were collected between those conferred to the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia (IZSSi) Adelmo Mirri, Palermo (Italy), by the competent authority during official control, by food business operator in HACCP systems and in research projects. Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli and coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) were found only in some samples. Bacillus cereus was detected in c.a. 16% of samples but the level of contaminations did not reach the threshold that leads to significant toxin production…
Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile and Tetracycline Resistance Genes Detection in Salmonella spp. Strains Isolated from Animals and Food
Salmonella spp. is among the leading causes of foodborne infections in humans and a large number of animals. Salmonella spp. is a pathogen involved in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance because it can accumulate antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). In this study, the antibiotic resistance profile to 15 antibiotics, belonging to six different classes, of 60 strains of Salmonella spp. collected from pets, farm animals, wildlife, and food in Sicily (Italy) was investigated by the Kirby-Bauer method. Given that almost 33.3% of the Salmonella spp. strains were resistant to tetracycline, Real-Time PCR analysis was applied on all the 60 strains to detect the presence of eight selected te…
Behavior of four main dairy pathogenic bacteria during manufacturing and ripening of pecorino siciliano cheese
Background: Consumption of raw cheese may be associated with different diseases. This study aimed to evaluate behavior of four pathogenic bacteria during manufacture and ripening of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Siciliano cheese.
 Methods: The experimental cheese groups were inoculated with pathogenic bacteria, including Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Enteritidis, and Staphylococcus aureus. The cheese making processes were monitored from milk curdling until 3 months ripened cheeses and the levels of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) and the four dairy pathogens were evaluated by plate counts. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-Polymerase Chai…
Serological and Molecular Evidence of Bartonella henselae in Stray Cats from Southern Italy
Bartonella henselae is a slow growing and facultative intracellular pathogen mainly transmitted by arthropod vectors adapted to domestic and wild mammalian reservoir hosts. Since cats are the major source of the B. henselae infection, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence and the DNA presence in randomly sampled stray cats. Blood samples of 429 cats were collected from shelter of Palermo (Southern Italy) and sera and whole blood were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. henselae by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Two hundred and three sera (47.3%) were positive to IFA and 148 blood samples (34.5%…
Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Stray Dogs from Southern Italy
Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial pathogen transmitted by Ixodes ticks and is responsible for Lyme disease in both humans and dogs. The aim of this work was to evaluate B. burgdorferi diffusion among stray dogs in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) by serological methods in order to study the risk factors associated with the infection. Serum and blood samples of 316 dogs were collected from a shelter in Palermo, and were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and of the ospA gene by real-time PCR, respectively. Seventeen sera (5.4%) were positive for the antibodies via IFA and one blood (0.3%) for ospA via real time PCR. On the basi…
Antibiotic-Resistant Gram Negative Bacilli in Meals Delivered at a General Hospital, Italy
This study aimed at detecting the presence of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negatives in samples of meals delivered at the University General Hospital of Palermo, Italy. Antibiotic resistant Gram negatives were isolated in July—September 2007 ffrom cold dishes and food contact surfaces and utensils. Bacterial strains were submitted to susceptibility test and subtyped by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Forty-six of 55 (83.6%) food samples and 14 of 17 (82.3%) environmental swabs were culture positive for Gram negative bacilli resistant to at least one group of antibacterial drugs. A total of 134 antibiotic resistant strains, 51 fermenters and 83 non-fermenters, were recovered. Fe…
Seasonal trend of Anisakidae infestation in South Mediterranean bluefish
A total of 1104 fish samples from markets of Sicily were analysed for the detection and species identification of Anisakidae nematodes. The preliminary analysis of the fish samples showed the presence of 2459 larvae. All the fish species revealed different prevalence of infestation, with a maximum of 100% for Lepidopus caudatus and a minimum of 4.5% in Sardina pilchardus. The 80% of the larvae examined by PCR-RFLP analysis belonged to Anisakis pegreffii species. The seasonal infestation trend of Anisakis was evaluated in all the fish sample examined. The results of the seasonal infestation trend showed a marked connection with the ecological aspects of the fish species examined. As far as w…