Premium
ENTEROTOXIN GENE PROFILE AND ANTIBIOGRAM OF BACILLUS CEREUS STRAINS ISOLATED FROM RAW MEATS AND MEAT PRODUCTS
Author(s) -
RATHER M.A.,
AULAKH R.S.,
GILL J.P.S.,
GHATAK S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of food safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1745-4565
pISSN - 0149-6085
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4565.2011.00340.x
Subject(s) - bacillus cereus , cereus , raw meat , enterotoxin , food science , penicillin , biology , gentamicin , microbiology and biotechnology , antibiotic resistance , antibiotics , bacteria , gene , escherichia coli , biochemistry , genetics
ABSTRACT The present investigation was undertaken to study the incidence and antibiogram of enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus in raw meats and meat products. B. cereus was isolated from 97 (37.45%) of the 259 samples analyzed. Recorded incidences of B. cereus from chicken, chevon, mutton, meat products and swab samples were 33.33, 37.20, 39.47, 51.85 and 26.08%, respectively. Screening of isolates by multiplex polymerase chain reaction revealed the overall distribution of various enterotoxin genes hblD , hblA , hblC , nheA , nheB , nheC , cytK and entFM as 64.94, 64.94, 68.04, 97.83, 95.87, 93.81, 65.98 and 100%, respectively. Sensitivity of isolates to a panel of 10 antimicrobial agents revealed gentamicin (100%), ciprofloxacin (98.97%), chloramphenicol (89.69%) and streptomycin (85.56%) to be the most effective antibiotics, while the highest resistance was noted against penicillin G (91.75%). A relatively higher incidence of B. cereus in meat products, with the majority of isolates harboring all the enterotoxin genes and detection of multiple antibiotic resistant strains, pose a potential public health threat. PRACTICAL APPLICATION The consumption of meat and meat products contaminated with Bacillus cereus is one of the important causes of foodborne illnesses throughout the world. A high incidence of B. cereus in meat, particularly in ready‐to‐eat meat products, poses a serious health threat to the consumers. One of the important concerns regarding this is to determine the source of contamination in the meat in order to prevent it. Moreover, very limited data are available regarding the enterotoxin gene profile and antibiogram of B. cereus strains isolated from such kind of foods. B. cereus isolated from meat and meat products was found to be resistant to multiple antibiotics, strongly hemolytic and showed the presence of at least one enterotoxigenic gene. Therefore, the presence of large number of enterotoxigenic and multiple antibiotic resistant B. cereus strains in the meat and meat products must be considered a potential health hazard.