Research Publications (Food Safety)

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli are well tolerant of freezing.

Journal of Food Quality, Volume 39, Issue 6, Page 766-772, December 2016.

Journal of Basic Microbiology, Volume 62, Issue 1, Page 22-34, January 2022.

Journal of Applied Microbiology, Volume 132, Issue 1, Page 290-297, January 2022. Aims In this study, the efficacy of using vacuumed hydrogen peroxide vapour (VHPV) to inactivate foodborne pathogens in whole dried black pepper (Piper nigrum) and powdered dried red pepper (Capsicum annuum) was evaluated. Methods and Results Black and red pepper inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium were su

Healthy cattle are considered the main reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains, so in some places in the world, products derived from beef are the most common source for disease outbreaks caused by these bacteria. Therefore, in order to guarantee that the beef produced by our slaughterhouses is safe, there is a need for continuous monitoring of these bacteria.

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are foodborne pathogens causing serious diseases, such as haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Although O157:H7 STEC strains have been the most prevalent, incidences of STEC infections by several other serotypes have recently increased.

Author(s): Minto Michael, Jennifer C. Acuff, Daniel Vega, Amninder S. Sekhon, Lakshmikantha H. Channaiah, Randall K. Phebus Foodborne pathogens like Salmonella and Escherichia coli O121 can endure the harsh low water activity (aw) environment of wheat flour for elongated periods of time and can proliferate when hydrated for baking or other purposes.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. The study investigated the effects of acidic water (sodium bisulfate, SBS /lactic acid, LA) tempering (alone) and in combination with heat treatment on Shiga toxin- producing E. coli (STEC) O121 and O26 load of wheat and its impact on wheat flour quality.

Healthy cattle are considered the main reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains, so in some places in the world, products derived from beef are the most common source for disease outbreaks caused by these bacteria. Therefore, in order to guarantee that the beef produced by our slaughterhouses is safe, there is a need for continuous monitoring of these bacteria.

O80:H2 enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) of sequence type ST301 is one of the main serotypes causing European hemolytic and uremic syndrome, but also invasive infections, due to extra-intestinal virulence factors (VFs). Here, we determined whether other such heteropathotypes exist among ST301. EnteroBase was screened for ST301 strains that were included in a general SNP-phylogeny. French strains belonging to a new heteropathotype clone were sequenced.

Author(s): Alexander Gill, Tanis McMahon, Forest Dussault, Karen Jinneman, Rebecca Lindsey, Haley Martin, Devon Stoneburg, Nancy Strockbine, June Wetherington, Peter Feng

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) may cause severe disease mainly due to the ability to produce Shiga toxins (Stx) encoded on bacteriophages. In Norway, more than 30% of the reported cases with STEC O145:H25 develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and most cases, with known travel history, acquired the infection domestically.

Wheat flour has been connected to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses with increased frequency in recent years, specifically, outbreaks involving Salmonella enterica and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). However, there is little information regarding the survival of these pathogens on wheat grain during long-term storage in a low-moisture environment. This study aims to evaluate the long-term survival of these enteric pathogens on wheat grain over the course of a year.

Introduction. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) can cause severe disease and large outbreaks. In England, the incidence and clinical significance of STEC serogroups other than O157 (non-O157) is unknown due to a testing bias for detection of STEC O157.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7/NM and some non-O157 STEC are foodborne pathogens. In response to pork-associated O157 STEC outbreaks in Canada, we investigated the occurrence of STEC in Canadian retail raw ground pork during the period of November 1, 2014 and March 31, 2016. Isolated STEC were characterized to determine the Shiga-toxin gene ( stx ) subtype and the presence of virulence genes encoding intimin ( eae ), and enterohemorrhagic E. coli hemolysin (hlyA) .

Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) is a widely accepted molecular typing tool for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). However, ensuring the accuracy of MLVA data among multiple laboratories remains difficult. We developed a method of constructing adjusted look-up tables, which are necessary for MLVA profiling, at each laboratory using a regression analysis based on electrophoresis data from 24 in-house reference strains.

Resistance of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 and serogroups O103, O26 and O145 to synthetic gastric fluid (SGF, pH 1.5) were investigated during frankfurter storage. Pathogens were inoculated (5 ± 1 log10 cfu g−1) on frankfurters and frankfurters were stored at 4 °C for 75 days in vacuum packages.

Cattle are asymptomatic carriers of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains that can cause serious illness or death in humans. In New Zealand, contact with cattle feces and living near cattle populations are known risk factors for human STEC infection. Contamination of fresh meat with STEC strains also leads to the potential for rejection of consignments by importing countries.

Author(s): Frank J. Velez, Joseph M. Bosilevac, Prashant Singh

Cattle are a reservoir for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), zoonotic pathogens that cause serious clinical disease. Scotland has a higher incidence of STEC infection in the human population than the European average. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and epidemiology of non-O157 serogroups O26, O103, O111, and O145 and Shiga toxin gene carriage in Scottish cattle.

We previously isolated a single domain antibody (VHH) that binds Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) with the end-goal being the enteromucosal passive immunization of cattle herds. To improve the yield of a chimeric fusion of the VHH with an IgA Fc, we employed two rational design strategies, supercharging and introducing de novo disulfide bonds, on the bovine IgA Fc component of the chimera.

The increasing use of PCR for the detection of gastrointestinal pathogens in hospital laboratories in England has improved the detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and the diagnosis of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS).

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an enteric pathogen associated with human gastroenteritis outbreaks. Extensive use of antibiotics in agriculture selects resistant bacteria that may enter the food chain and potentially causes foodborne illnesses in humans that are less likely to respond to treatment with conventional antibiotics.

Shiga toxin is the major virulence factor of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), and the gene encoding it is carried within the genome of Shiga toxin-converting phages (Stx phages). Numerous Stx phages have been sequenced to gain a better understanding of their contribution to the virulence potential of EHEC. The Stx phages are classified into the lambdoid phage family based on similarities in lifestyle, gene arrangement, and nucleotide sequence to the lambda phages.

Shiga toxin (Stx), encoded by stx genes located in prophage sequences, is the major agent responsible for the pathogenicity of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and is closely associated with the development of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Although numerous Stx prophage sequences have been reported as part of STEC bacterial genomes, the information about the genomic characterization of Stx-converting bacteriophages induced from STEC strains is relatively scarce.