Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in retailed meat in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in retailed meats, comprising beef, chicken, and pork, in the Tokyo metropolitan area. A total of 379 samples of retailed meat were collected from 1998 to 2003, most of which were obtained by simultaneously purchasing the three classes of meat from a shop and then making another simultaneous purchase of meat from the same shop a few weeks later. The prevalence of L. monocytogenes was 28.0%, and the serotypes isolated were mainly 1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c, and 4b. Comparison of the prevalence of each serotype among the classes of meat showed a predominant distribution of serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b, and 4b in chicken, while serotype 1/2c was dominant in pork. A total of nine cases considered to be due to persistence and/or cross-contamination were found. Most of the strains involved in persistence and/or cross-contamination were of serotypes 1/2c or 4b. These results suggest that contamination in retailed meat in Japan is at almost the same level as in other countries and that chicken has the highest potential as a source of contamination and infection. In addition, we suggest that the ecological niche of serotype 1/2c is distinct from those of 1/2a, 1/2b, and 4b, which may explain why human hosts have less opportunity to be exposed to serotype 1/2c and why there is a lower rate of isolation of this serotype from cases of human listeriosis.

Genetic variation of Listeria monocytogenes isolates from domestic and imported foods in Japan.

Phylogenetic analyses were carried out on a total of 118 Listeria monocytogenes isolates from foods or food processing environments, and 7 isolates from listeriosis patients in Japan to evaluate the genetic variation in the pathogen in this country. Isolates of serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b were mainly examined to assess the risk of exposure of humans to L. monocytogenes from foods in Japan. The nucleotide sequences of the part of the iap gene that contains the region encoding the threonine-asparagine repeat units were determined in order to construct phylogenetic trees of the isolates investigated. A phylogram showed high genetic diversity among lineage 2 isolates, while the lineage 1 isolates showed clonal characteristics. The results of the genetic analyses suggested the presence of rare putative lineage 3 isolates and epidemic clone I (ECI) isolates in foods in Japan. The results showed that ECI was also isolated from listeriosis patients. The genetic variation in L. monocytogenes in Japan reported here suggests the necessity of monitoring the pathogen in foods and environments in addition to surveillance of listeriosis patients.