Bacteriological analysis of wheat flour associated with an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O121.

A 2016/2017 outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O121 in Canada, was linked to wheat flour, milled at a single facility on three consecutive days in October 2016. Most Probable Number (MPN) estimates of the concentration of STEC O121 in the recalled flour were made using the results of qualitative testing conducted during the outbreak investigation and from analysis of 5 × 2.5 g, 5 × 25 g and 5 × 100 g analytical units of the recalled flour. The STEC O121 levels were estimated at 0.15 to 0.43 MPN/100 g, with no significant difference between production days and the two MPN estimates. The microbiota of the recalled flour, and eight retail flour samples, was enumerated by aerobic colony count, MacConkey agar and E. coli/Coliform petrifilm. The composition of the microbiota to a genus level was determined by identifying individual colonies with a Bruker Biotyper. All retail flour samples were negative for STEC in 5 × 100 g analytical units. There was no evidence of higher levels of organisms associated with fecal contamination in the recalled flour. The low levels of STEC O121 in the recalled flour indicate that a robust sampling plan, with multiple analytical units for a total of several hundred grams, may be required to reliably detect STEC in flour at levels observed in this outbreak.

A strain comparison of Campylobacter isolated from retail poultry and human clinical cases in Atlantic Canada.

Campylobacter is the leading cause of food-borne bacterial disease in Canada and many developed countries. One of the most common sources of human campylobacteriosis is considered to be the consumption or handling of raw or undercooked poultry. To date, few Canadian studies have investigated both the prevalence of Campylobacter on retail poultry and its potential impact on human clinical cases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. at the retail level and the correlation between subtypes recovered from chicken and those recovered from human clinical cases within the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. From this study 354 human clinical isolates were obtained from provincial hospital laboratories and a total of 480 packages of raw poultry cuts were sampled from retail outlets, yielding 312 isolates (65%), of all which were subtyped using comparative genomic fingerprinting (CGF). Of the 312 chicken isolates, the majority of isolates were C. jejuni (91.7%), followed by C. coli (7.7%) and C. lari (0.6%). Using CGF to subtype C. jejuni and C. coli isolates, 99 and 152 subtypes were recovered from chicken and clinical cases, respectively. The most prevalent human and chicken subtypes found in NS are similar to those observed nationally; indicating that the Campylobacter from this study appear to reflect of the profile of Campylobacter subtypes circulating nationally. Of the subtypes observed, only 36 subtypes were common between the two groups, however, these subtypes represented 48.3% of the clinical isolates collected. The findings from this study provides evidence that in Nova Scotia, retail poultry can act as a reservoir for Campylobacter subtypes that have been implicated in human illness.

Recovery of Campylobacter spp. from Food and Environmental Sources.

The recovery of Campylobacter species from food and environmental sources is challenging due to the slow growth of these bacteria and the need to suppress competing organisms during the isolation procedures. The addition of multiple selective antimicrobials to growth media can negatively impact recovery of some Campylobacter spp. Here, we describe our current method for the isolation of thermotolerant Campylobacter species, mainly C. jejuni and C. coli, from food and environmental samples. We emphasize the use of membrane filtration during plating for the specific isolation of Campylobacter spp. and a reduced use of antimicrobial supplements throughout the whole isolation process.

Draft Genome Sequences of Two Clostridium botulinum Group II (Nonproteolytic) Type B Strains (DB-2 and KAPB-3).

Clostridium botulinum is important for food safety and studies of neurotoxins associated with human botulism. We present the draft genome sequences of two strains belonging to group II type B: one collected from Pacific Ocean sediments (DB-2) and another obtained during a botulism outbreak (KAPB-3).

Method-dependent variability in determination of prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in Canadian retail poultry.

Campylobacter is the most frequent cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in Canada, and the illness is commonly associated with poultry consumption. Whereas Canadian retail poultry is often contaminated with campylobacters, studies on the prevalence of this organism are inconsistent due to variability in sampling and microbiological methodology. To determine the current microbiological status of Canadian poultry, and to evaluate two commonly used microbiological methods, 348 raw poultry samples were collected at retail across Canada over a period of 3 years (2007 to 2010) and were analyzed for the presence of thermophilic Campylobacter species. The overall prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was found to be 42.8% by a combination of the two testing methods, with 33.9% of the samples positive for C. jejuni, 3.7% of the samples positive for C. coli, and 5.2% of the samples positive for both. Variability in Campylobacter spp. prevalence was observed in samples obtained from different regions across Canada and from poultry with or without skin, but this was not statistically significant. In co-contaminated samples, C. jejuni was preferentially recovered from Preston agar compared with mCCDA and Campy-Cefex agar, with an increase in recovery of C. coli on all selective media after 48 h of enrichment. A subset of 214 of the poultry rinses were analyzed by both Health Canada's standard method, MFLP-46 (enrichment in Park and Sanders broth), and a second method requiring enrichment in Bolton broth. Significantly more positive samples were obtained with the MFLP-46 method (40.6%) than with the alternate method (35.0%). This improved recovery with MFLP-46 may be due to the omission of cycloheximide from this method. These results demonstrate that determination of prevalence of Campylobacter spp. on poultry products may be significantly impacted by the choice of microbiological methods used. Canadian poultry continues to be a source of exposure to Campylobacter spp.