Five enrichment broths and five selective and differentia] plating media were tested for efficiency of isolation of Aeromonas spp. from chicken, beef and pork. An overnight incubation of sample in Trypticase soy broth containing 10 μg of ampicillin/ml which was spread on starch ampicillin agar or on MacConkey mannitol ampicillin agar, gave the best results. A small survey was conducted on 10 samples each of chicken thigh-meat, ground beef, and pork sausage or ground unseasoned pork purchased from local food stores. Aeromonads were found in all of the samples in numbers ranging from 4.44 × 10−2−>4.44× 103/g except for two of the pork products from which the organisms could not be isolated. Fifty-eight isolates from this survey were tested for hemolysin production and cytotoxin production; 36 isolates were tested for production of cholera-like toxin. Cytotoxin, as detected by mouse adrenyl Y1 cells and Chinese hamster ovary cells, was produced by 92.8% of the Aeromonas hydrophila isolates, by 84.6% of the Aeromonas sobria isolates and by 17.6% of the Aeromonas caviae isolates. Hemolysin production paralleled cytotoxin production in A. hydrophila and A. caviae. Of the A. sobria isolates, 69.2% were hemolysin producers. None of the isolates tested produced cholera-like toxin. It is not known whether the presence of cytotoxin- and hemolysin-producing Aeromonas species in retail meat and poultry has any public health significance, since to date there have been no reported outbreaks of Aeromonas-caused gastroenteritis traced to meat or poultry.
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Research Article|
June 01 1987
Incidence and Toxigenicity of Aeromonas Species in Retail Poultry, Beef and Pork
ANITA J. G. OKREND;
ANITA J. G. OKREND
Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Building 322, ARC-East, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
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BONNIE E. ROSE;
BONNIE E. ROSE
Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Building 322, ARC-East, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
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BARBARA BENNETT
BARBARA BENNETT
Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Building 322, ARC-East, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
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J Food Prot (1987) 50 (6): 509–513.
Article history
Received:
October 10 1986
Citation
ANITA J. G. OKREND, BONNIE E. ROSE, BARBARA BENNETT; Incidence and Toxigenicity of Aeromonas Species in Retail Poultry, Beef and Pork. J Food Prot 1 June 1987; 50 (6): 509–513. doi: https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-50.6.509
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