Microbial Contamination Events Research Articles

Finding of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacterales in wild game meat originating from several European countries: predominance of Moellerella wisconsensis producing CTX-M-1, November 2021.

IntroductionMeat can be a vehicle for food-borne transmission of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes. The occurrence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacterales has been observed in meat from livestock production but has not been well studied in meat from wild game.AimWe aimed to investigate, particularly in central Europe, to what extent ESBL-producing Enterobacterales may be present in wild game meat.MethodsA total of 111 samples of different types of game meat supplied by butchers, hunters, retail stores and a large game-processing establishment in Europe were screened for ESBL-producing Enterobacterales using a selective culture medium. Isolates were genotypically and phenotypically characterised.ResultsThirty-nine samples (35% of the total) yielded ESBL-producing Enterobacterales, with most (35/39) supplied by the game-processing establishment. Isolates included 32 Moellerella wisconsensis, 18 Escherichia coli and one Escherichia marmotae. PCR screening identified bla CTX-M-1 (n = 31), bla CTX-M-32 (n = 8), bla CTX-M-65 (n = 4), bla CTX-M-15 (n = 3), bla CTX-M-8 (n = 1), bla CTX-M-14 (n = 1), bla CTX-M-55 (n = 1), and bla SHV-12 (n = 2). Most E. coli belonged to phylogenetic group A (n = 7) or B1 (n = 9), but several isolates belonged to extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) sequence types (ST)58 (n = 4), ST68 (n = 1) and ST540 (n = 1). Whole genome sequencing of six selected isolates localised bla CTX-M-1 on megaplasmids in four M. wisconsensis and bla CTX-M-32 on IncN_1 plasmids in one M. wisconsensis and one E. marmotae. Forty-eight isolates (94%) exhibited a multidrug-resistance phenotype.ConclusionWe found a high occurrence of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales in wild game meat, suggesting wildlife habitat pollution and possible microbial contamination events occurring during skinning or cutting carcasses.

Modelling the behaviour of chlorine within a drinking water distribution system following a microbial contamination event

ABSTRACT Chlorine residual concentrations in water distribution systems could be utilized as a microbiological contamination indication. In this study, the method which parameterizes a parallel first-order equation to describe the chlorine decay induced by microbial suspensions over a wide range of conditions based on a limited number of batch experiments was tested. Recent evidence in the literature contradicted this idea. Furthermore, the results showed that the suggestion of a parallel first-order decay model for calculating the chlorine decay generated by microbial suspensions, which included empirical equations for each of the parameters of the model, is not universal. Finally, this study certified that EPANET-MSX could be used to simulate the chlorine concentration when a contaminant was introduced in a drinking water distribution system, specifically to determine its minimum value.

Drinking Water Quality Monitoring: An Alternative Approach to Microbial Contamination Events.

The nonstop growing of world population and consequent increase in water demands, as raise the interest in continuous and real-time drinking water monitoring systems. The following study aims to study Tryptophan Intrinsic Fluorescence as a method for detecting microbial contamination events in drinking water.

Evaluating Monitoring Strategies to Detect Precipitation-Induced Microbial Contamination Events in Karstic Springs Used for Drinking Water.

Monitoring of microbial drinking water quality is a key component for ensuring safety and understanding risk, but conventional monitoring strategies are typically based on low sampling frequencies (e.g., quarterly or monthly). This is of concern because many drinking water sources, such as karstic springs are often subject to changes in bacterial concentrations on much shorter time scales (e.g., hours to days), for example after precipitation events. Microbial contamination events are crucial from a risk assessment perspective and should therefore be targeted by monitoring strategies to establish both the frequency of their occurrence and the magnitude of bacterial peak concentrations. In this study we used monitoring data from two specific karstic springs. We assessed the performance of conventional monitoring based on historical records and tested a number of alternative strategies based on a high-resolution data set of bacterial concentrations in spring water collected with online flow cytometry (FCM). We quantified the effect of increasing sampling frequency and found that for the specific case studied, at least bi-weekly sampling would be needed to detect precipitation events with a probability of >90%. We then proposed an optimized monitoring strategy with three targeted samples per event, triggered by precipitation measurements. This approach is more effective and efficient than simply increasing overall sampling frequency. It would enable the water utility to (1) analyze any relevant event and (2) limit median underestimation of peak concentrations to approximately 10%. We conclude with a generalized perspective on sampling optimization and argue that the assessment of short-term dynamics causing microbial peak loads initially requires increased sampling/analysis efforts, but can be optimized subsequently to account for limited resources. This offers water utilities and public health authorities systematic ways to evaluate and optimize their current monitoring strategies.

Laboratory-Scale Simulation and Real-Time Tracking of a Microbial Contamination Event and Subsequent Shock-Chlorination in Drinking Water.

Rapid contamination of drinking water in distribution and storage systems can occur due to pressure drop, backflow, cross-connections, accidents, and bio-terrorism. Small volumes of a concentrated contaminant (e.g., wastewater) can contaminate large volumes of water in a very short time with potentially severe negative health impacts. The technical limitations of conventional, cultivation-based microbial detection methods neither allow for timely detection of such contaminations, nor for the real-time monitoring of subsequent emergency remediation measures (e.g., shock-chlorination). Here we applied a newly developed continuous, ultra high-frequency flow cytometry approach to track a rapid pollution event and subsequent disinfection of drinking water in an 80-min laboratory scale simulation. We quantified total (TCC) and intact (ICC) cell concentrations as well as flow cytometric fingerprints in parallel in real-time with two different staining methods. The ingress of wastewater was detectable almost immediately (i.e., after 0.6% volume change), significantly changing TCC, ICC, and the flow cytometric fingerprint. Shock chlorination was rapid and detected in real time, causing membrane damage in the vast majority of bacteria (i.e., drop of ICC from more than 380 cells μl-1 to less than 30 cells μl-1 within 4 min). Both of these effects as well as the final wash-in of fresh tap water followed calculated predictions well. Detailed and highly quantitative tracking of microbial dynamics at very short time scales and for different characteristics (e.g., concentration, membrane integrity) is feasible. This opens up multiple possibilities for targeted investigation of a myriad of bacterial short-term dynamics (e.g., disinfection, growth, detachment, operational changes) both in laboratory-scale research and full-scale system investigations in practice.

Validation Study of Rapid Assays of Bioburden, Endotoxins and Other Contamination.

Microbial testing performed in support of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical production falls into three main categories: detection (qualitative), enumeration (quantitative), and characterization/identification. Traditional microbiological methods are listed in the compendia and discussed by using the conventional growth-based techniques, which are labor intensive and time consuming. In general, such tests require several days of incubation for microbial contamination (bioburden) to be detected, and therefore management seldom is able to take proactive corrective measures. In addition, microbial growth is limited by the growth medium used and incubation conditions, thus impacting testing sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility. For more than 20 years various technology platforms for rapid microbiological methods (RMM) have been developed, and many have been readily adopted by the food industry and clinical microbiology laboratories. Their use would certainly offer drug companies faster test turnaround times to accommodate the aggressive deadlines for manufacturing processes and product release. Some rapid methods also offer the possibility for real-time microbial analyses, enabling management to respond to microbial contamination events in a more timely fashion, and can provide cost savings and higher efficiencies in quality control testing laboratories. Despite the many proven business and quality benefits and the fact that the FDA's initiative to promote the use of process analytical technology (PAT) includes rapid microbial methods, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries have been somewhat slow to embrace alternative microbial methodologies for several reasons. The major reason is that the bioburden counts detected by the incubation method and rapid assay are greatly divergent. The use of rapid methods is a dynamic field in applied microbiology and one that has gained increased attention nationally and internationally over time. This topic has been extensively addressed at conferences and in published documents around the world. More recently, the use of alternative methods for control of the microbiological quality of pharmaceutical products and materials used in pharmaceutical production has been addressed by the compendia in an attempt to facilitate implementation of these technologies by pharmaceutical companies. The author presents some of the rapid method technologies under evaluation or in use by pharmaceutical microbiologists and the current status of the implementation of alternative microbial methods.

Habitat eradication and cropland intensification may reduce parasitoid diversity and natural pest control services in annual crop fields

Abstract California’s central coast differs from many agricultural areas in the U.S., which feature large tracts of monoculture production fields and relatively simple landscapes. Known as the nations salad bowl, and producing up to 90% of U.S. production of lettuces, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, this region is a mosaic of fresh vegetable fields, coastal meadow, chaparral shrubs, riparian and woodland habitat. We tested for relationships between the percent cover of crops, riparian and other natural landscape vegetation and the species richness of parasitic wasps and flies foraging in crops, such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower, and interpreted our results with respect to the decrease in natural habitat and increase in cropland cover prompted by a local microbial contamination event in 2006. Our key results are that: (1) as cropland cover in the landscape increased, fewer species of parasitoids were captured in the crop field, (2) parasitoid richness overall was positively associated with the amount of riparian and other natural vegetation in the surrounding 500m, (3) different groups of parasitoids were associated with unique types of natural vegetation, and (4) parasitism rates of sentinel cabbage aphid and cabbage looper pests were correlated with landscape vegetation features according to which parasitoids caused the mortality. Although individual species of parasitoids may thrive in landscapes that are predominantly short season crops, the robust associations found in this study across specialist and generalist parasitoids and different taxa (tachinid flies, ichneumon wasps, braconid wasps) shows that recent food safety practices targeting removal of natural vegetation around vegetable fields in an attempt to eliminate wildlife may harm natural enemy communities and reduce ecosystem services. We argue that enhancing biological diversity is a key goal for transforming agroecosystems for future productivity, sustainability and public health.

Addressing microbial contamination in process equipment

M contamination problems in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical device, cosmetic, and dietary supplement industries are recognized as a source of risk to the consumer. The presence of objectionable microorganisms in non-sterile products, or any type of microorganism in sterile products, denotes inadequate process controls. The control of microbial contaminants requires the interaction of a multidisciplinary group to identify root causes and to implement corrective actions. This poster assembles information to assist in this investigational process and offers a holistic approach to remediate microbial contamination in process equipment. Contamination of a product with an objectionable microorganism is a costly and time consuming problem that needs to be addressed quickly and efficiently by a cross-functional team. The cross-functional team should consist of, but not remain limited to, personnel from quality, engineering, operations and microbiology. It is critical to identify the microorganisms early in the investigation and determine whether they are from an intrinsic (of the manufacturing process) or extrinsic (outside of the manufacturing process) source. Based on the probable source, the investigation team can focus its investigation. A careful walkthrough of the process can be used to flag areas of microbial risk and identify controls in place or lack of them; understand when the product is at highest risk, and provide solutions to reduce the risk. A holistic approach is commonly performed to address contamination issues and get the manufacturing process running again. As part of the holistic approach, assess the cleanability of the system and make engineering changes to address issues such as coverage, drainability, etc. as needed. Perform a robust high temperature, alkaline cleaning to remove process and microbial residue. If rouge or water scale is present, perform a high temperature acid cleaning to remove the inorganic residue. When possible, use a disinfection/sterilization procedure that is routinely performed on site and ensure critical parameters are achieved during the process. Once the manufacturing process is back up and running, schedule regular meetings to review current microbial control measures and internal plans to quickly and effectively address the next microbial contamination event. Elizabeth Rivera, J Develop Drugs 2013, 2:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2329-6631.S1.003

Rapid Assay of Bioburden, Endotoxin and Other Contaminnation

Microbial testing performed in support of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical production falls into three main categories: detection (qualitative), enumeration (quantitative), and characterization/identification. Traditional microbiological methods listed in the compendia and discussed by using the conventional growth-based techniques, which are labor intensive and time consuming. In general, such tests require several days of incubation for microbial contamination (bioburden) to be detected, and therefore management seldom is able to take proactive corrective measures. In addition, microbial growth is limited by the growth medium used and incubation conditions, thus impacting testing sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility. For more than 20 years various technology platforms for Rapid Microbiological Methods (RMM) have been developed, and many have been readily adopted by the food industry and clinical microbiology laboratories. Their use would certainly offer drug companies faster test turnaround times to accommodate the aggressive deadlines for manufacturing processes and product release. Some rapid methods also offer the possibility for real-time microbial analyses, enabling management to respond to microbial contamination events in a more timely fashion, and can provide cost savings and higher efficiencies in quality control testing laboratories. Despite the many proved business and quality benefits and the fact that the FDA\'s initiative to promote the use of process analytical technology (PAT) includes rapid microbial methods, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries have been somewhat slow to embrace alternative microbial methodologies for several reasons. The major reason is that the bioburden count detected by incubation method and rapid assay has great divergence. Rapid methods is a dynamic field in applied microbiology and one that has gained increased attention nationally and internationally over time. This topic has been extensively addressed at conferences and in published documents around the world. More recently, the use of alternative methods for control of the microbiological quality of pharmaceutical products and materials used in pharmaceutical production has been addressed by the compendia in an attempt to facilitate implementation of these technologies by pharmaceutical companies. The author presents some of the rapid method technologies under evaluation or in use by pharmaceutical microbiologists and the current status of implementation of alternative microbial methods.

Environmental quality of Sitges (Catalonia, NE Spain) beaches during the bathing season

Sitges is an important tourist attraction to local (especially from the Barcelona metropolitan area), national and international visitors. Beaches are one of the main resources used and, therefore, human pressure on them is high. The number of beach management issues is large and we focus here on the use of several coastal environmental indicators (coastline evolution, submarine and dune phytoindicators, microbiological quality of sand and water, and beach litter) to assess beach quality. Beach surface has considerably increased since 1956 by the construction of breakwaters and ports, but some beaches are still prone to erosion. An adequate management of the, nowadays fragile, underwater prairies and dune vegetation could increase their coastal protection function and other environmental values. The quality of water and sand is in general excellent, but some of the beaches close to the compact City Centre have shown some microbial contamination events in the past. The surface density, distribution and composition of beach litter provide useful information to study visitor behaviour. We concluded that, during the bath season, the mean available surface is about 9 m 2/user, but important differences exist amongst beaches. Beach occupancy depends on factors such as beach length and surface, and distance to the City Centre. This multiparametric and integrated approach can be useful to promote strategies for better beach management in Sitges and worldwide.

Towards biotracing in food chains

Biotracing is tracing (backward)/tracking (forward) biological contamination in the food/feed chain. Advances in detection technologies, improvements in molecular marker identification, clearer understanding of pathogenicity markers, improved modelling methodologies and, more importantly, the integration of these disciplines will lead to better capability in full-chain tracing and tracking biological contaminations (biotracing). The advantages of improved biotraceability are faster intervention, limited recalls and more targeted remedial action. The project is not dealing with risk assessments but developing tools that can be used in “second-generation” risk assessments involving quantitative microbiology. This concept is the core activity of BIOTRACER, which is an Integrated Project (2007–2011) funded by the EU 6th Framework Programme. The research in biotracing is organised into five Research Areas, and 21 cross-disciplinary work packages that cover tracing and tracking of contamination in feed, meat and dairy chains, in addition to accidental and deliberate contamination of bottled water. The BIOTRACER Consortium consists of 46 partners, including Europe's largest food/feed industries, several SMEs, and relevant International Cooperation (INCO) countries. The Consortium includes experts in predictive microbiology, database developers, software companies, risk assessors, risk managers, system biologists, food and molecular microbiologists, legislative officers, standardization and validation members and food retailers. The outcomes will ensure a more reliable and rapid response to a microbial contamination event.

Modeling Residual Chlorine Response to a Microbial Contamination Event in Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Changes in chlorine residual concentrations in water distribution systems could be used as an indicator of microbial contamination. Consideration is given on how to model the behavior of chlorine within the distribution system following a microbial contamination event. Existing multispecies models require knowledge of specific reaction kinetics that are unlikely to be known. A method to parameterize a rate expression describing microbially induced chlorine decay over a wide range of conditions based on a limited number of batch experiments is described. This method is integrated into EPANET-MSX using the programmer’s toolkit. The model was used to simulate a series of microbial contamination events in a small community distribution system. Results of these simulations showed that changes in chlorine induced by microbial contaminants can be observed throughout a network at nodes downstream from and distant to the contaminated node. Some factors that promote or inhibit the transport of these chlorine demand...

Modeling the frequency and duration of microbial contamination events

The frequency and duration of microbial contamination events in the environment in which ready-to-eat (RTE) foods are exposed for processing and packaging is subject to uncertainty and variability. Variability, within-model parameter uncertainty, and uncertainty regarding model selection are formally considered in modeling the frequency and duration of such contamination events by Listeria species. The estimated duration of contamination events represents a case where variability dominates with relatively little uncertainty about parameter values or model form. The estimated frequency of contamination events represents a case where there is not only substantial variability but also considerable within-model parameter uncertainty, as well as some uncertainty regarding model selection. The Bayesian Information Criterion provides a formal way of taking into account model uncertainty.