Abstract
Bacillus cereus is one of the most important foodborne pathogenic microorganisms, which can lead to gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal diseases. However, the potential risk of B. cereus in aquatic products in China has not been comprehensively evaluated yet. In this study, a total of 860 aquatic samples from three types of retail aquatic products were collected from 39 major cities in China from 2011 to 2016. The contamination, distribution of virulence genes, antibiotic resistance and genetic diversity of B. cereus isolates were measured and analyzed. Of all the samples, 219 (25.47%) were positive for B. cereus and 1.83% (4/219) of the samples had contamination levels of more than 1,100 most probable number (MPN)/g. Different isolates had virulence potential, within which 59.6% (164/275) contained all three kinds of enterotoxin genes (nhe, hbl, and cytK-2) and 5.1% (14/275) possessed cereulide encoding gene cesB. The antimicrobial resistance profiles revealed the universal antibiotic resistance to rifampin and most β-lactams, suggesting the necessity to continuously monitor the antibiotic resistance of B. cereus in aquatic products and to control drug use in aquaculture. In sum, our study indicates the potential hazards of B. cereus isolated from aquatic products to customers and may provide a reference for clinical treatment caused by B. cereus.
Highlights
As one of the key sources of nutrition, aquatic products are an indispensable part of consumers’ diets (Thilsted et al, 2014)
As the risk of B. cereus in aquatic products in China has not been comprehensively evaluated yet, we aimed to analyze the prevalence of B. cereus in this study, as well as the molecular characteristics of different isolates to explore the potential hazard of B. cereus in aquatic products in major cities of China
275 B. cereus isolates were detected in 25.47% (219/860) of the samples, with 25.62% in finfish, 23.32% in mollusks, and 27.78% in crustaceans
Summary
As one of the key sources of nutrition, aquatic products are an indispensable part of consumers’ diets (Thilsted et al, 2014). Consuming raw aquatic products like sashimi is very popular around the world, making foodborne diseases caused by bacterial contamination in aquatic products more. B. cereus in Aquatic Products in China likely (Miguéis et al, 2015). A facultative aerobic and spore-forming Gram-positive bacterium, is a well-known foodborne opportunistic pathogen (Bottone, 2010; Messelhäußer and Ehling-Schulz, 2018). Since B. cereus and its dormant spores are widely present in nature (Andersson et al, 1995; Bottone, 2010), it can contaminate different types of food. The contamination incidents of B. cereus in aquatic products have been reported previously (Rahmati and Labbé, 2008; Iwamoto et al, 2010; Miguéis et al, 2016)
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