Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 58 (5), 289-293, 2005
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Original Article
Comparison of Genomic Structures in the Serovar 1/2a Listeria monocytogenes Isolated from Meats and Listeriosis Patients in Japan
Fukiko Ueda*, Kyoko Yugami1, Mariko Mochizuki, Fumiya Yamada2, Kunitoshi Ogasawara3, Akikazu Fujima4, Hiroshi Shoji5 and Ryo Hondo
Department of Veterinary Public Health, Nippon Veterinary and Animal Science University, Tokyo 180-8602, 1Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tama Branch Laboratory, Tokyo 190-0023, 2Saitama Institute of Public Health, Saitama 338-0824, 3Niigata Quarantine Station, Niigata 950-0072, 4Kitasato Otsuka Biomedical Assay Laboratories Co., Ltd., Kanagawa 228-8555 and 5First Department (Neurology) of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kurume University, Fukuoka 830-0011, Japan
(Received July 11, 2005. Accepted August 12, 2005)
*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Public Health, Nippon Veterinary and Animal Science University, Kyonan-cho 1-7-1, Musashino, Tokyo 180-8602, Japan. Tel: +81-422-31-4151 ext. 282, Fax: +81-422-30-7531, E-mail: fueda@nvau.ac.jp
SUMMARY: Foodborne disease by Listeria monocytogenes, serovar 1/2a has recently been reported in many countries. Although contamination by this bacteria is also known@to@be gradually spreading among the marketed foods of Japan, there is little information on relation between listeriosis and food contamination. In the present study, the characteristics of the genomic structures of serovar 1/2a were compared among the isolates from marketed meats and listeriosis patients. Several isolates from meats purchased at the same shop on different days had the same genomic structure, and prolonged contamination was suggested by the conditions in the shop. Genomic structures of one strain isolated from meat were identical to those of two isolates from a patient. Another isolate was obtained from meats purchased at two different shops, and this isolate was also identical to that of the isolates from another patient. These findings suggest that the isolates from meat may have caused the listeriosis in the patients, and that the strains may have somehow traveled between the shops.