Distribution of Salmonella virulence factors originated from sheep and cattle in Algerian slaughterhouses

The present study was carried out to determine the virulence gene profiles associated with Salmonella subsp. enterica strains recovered from cattle and sheep samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 84 Salmonella isolates belonging to 10 serovars were screened for presence of 8 different virulence genes (invA, pefA, sefA, pipB, sseC, ssaP, spvC and iroB) using their specific primers. Different distribution patterns of these genes were noticed amongst the isolates. While the iroB gene was the most identified (n= 65, 77.4%), the sefA gene was not detected in all tested strains. pefA and spvC genes were detected in S. Typhimurium only with a rate of 3.6%. The four other genes were found to be present in 61.9% each. Occurrence of virulence genes did not vary significantly (P> 0.05) by serovar or animal species, neither by type of sample. The presence of all screened genes was significantly associated with resistance to at least one antibiotic from different classes except quinolones. These results show that transmissible pathogenic Salmonella strains are circulating in slaughterhouses in Algeria

Prevalence and distribution of staphylococcal enterotoxin genes among Staphylococcus aureus isolates from chicken and turkey carcasses in Algeria

This study is aimed to determine the prevalence of staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) by biochemical tests in poultry carcasses. It is also intend to detect the distribution of genes for classical staphylococcal enterotoxins A, B, C, D and E (sea, seb, sec, sed and see) and for gene femA, specific for S. aureus species, using multiplex PCR. A total of 385 samples of neck skins from fresh poultry carcasses were collected during the period 2012-2013 from 16 different slaughterhouses located in the region of Algiers, Algeria. The overall prevalence of S.aureus in freshly slaughtered poultry carcasses was 41.56%, with an individual prevalence of 40.63% and 45.71% for chicken and turkey respectively. From the 95 strains of S.aureus identified by biochemical tests. 82 (86.32%) isolates were femA positive using multiplex PCR. The investigation has also revealed the presence of both enterotoxins B and D, with a predominance of seb (13.33%) followed by sed (1.67%), in the chicken carcasses while in turkey only sed was detected (4.55%) It has been found that strains of S.aureus of poultry origin can be enterotoxigenic with the predominance of genes encoding for enterotoxins seb in chicken and sed in turkey. As enterotoxins can be produced in adequate amounts to induce foodborne illnesses, these potential dangers must be considered in terms of a real risk to public health

Prevalence and distribuion of staphylococcal enterotoxin genes among Staphylococcus aureus isolates from chicken and turkey carcasses in Algeria

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗThis study is aimed to determine the prevalence of staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) by biochemical tests in poultry carcasses. It is also intend to detect the distribution of genes for classical staphylococcal enterotoxins A, B, C, D and E (sea, seb, sec, sed and see) and for gene femA, specific for S.aureus species, using multiplex PCR. A total of 385 samples of neck skins from fresh poultry carcasses were collected during the period 2012-2013 from 16 different slaughterhouses located in the region of Algiers, Algeria. The overall prevalence of S.aureus in freshly slaughtered poultry carcasses was 41.56%, with an individual prevalence of 40.63% and 45.71% for chicken and turkey respectively. From the 95 strains of S.aureus identified by biochemical tests, 82 (86.32%) isolates were femA positive using multiplex PCR. The investigation has also revealed the presence of both enterotoxins B and D, with a predominance of seb (13.33%) followed by sed (1.67%), in the chicken carcasses while in turkey only sed was detected (4.55%) It has been found that strains of S.aureus of poultry origin can be enterotoxigenic with the predominance of genes encoding for enterotoxins seb in chicken and sed in turkey. As enterotoxins can be produced in adequate amounts to induce foodborne illnesses, these potential dangers must be considered in terms of a real risk to public health

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolated from bovine and ovine samples in slaughterhouses of Algiers, Algeria

ΔΕΝ ΥΠΑΡΧΕΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗThe aims of our work are to estimate the prevalence of Salmonella isolated from carcasses and feces of cattle and sheep in the two biggest slaughterhouses in Algiers, Algeria, and to characterize the obtained strains by serotyping and antimicrobial resistance testing. The detection of Salmonella was performed by the conventional culture method and isolates were confirmed by PCR. Susceptibility to antibiotics was carried out by agar disc diffusion method. The results showed that 10.17% of samples were Salmonella positive. Carcass samples were more contaminated than fecal samples. Serotyping of the 84 Salmonella isolates has enabled to identify 10 different serovars; the most predominant was S. Muenster. The invA gene was detected in 96.43% of isolates whereas all S. Typhimurium strains were positive for spy gene. Sixty-eight (80.95%) isolates were resistant to at least one of the 28 antibiotics tested and exhibited 17 different antimicrobial resistance patterns. The most frequently observed resistance was to streptomycin (69.05%). While 22.62 % of the isolates were MDR, two S. Typhimurium showed an‘‘ACSSuT’’ pentaresistance pattern. Considering the importance of this group of bacteria for public health, Salmonella control is necessary at several steps of food production to ensure safe products for consumers

Distribution of Salmonella virulence factors originated from sheep and cattle in Algerian slaughterhouses

The present study was carried out to determine the virulence gene profiles associated with Salmonella subsp. enterica strains recovered from cattle and sheep samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 84 Salmonella isolates belonging to 10 serovars were screened for presence of 8 different virulence genes (invA, pefA, sefA, pipB, sseC, ssaP, spvC and iroB) using their specific primers. Different distribution patterns of these genes were noticed amongst the isolates. While the iroB gene was the most identified (n= 65, 77.4%), the sefA gene was not detected in all tested strains. pefA and spvC genes were detected in S. Typhimurium only with a rate of 3.6%. The four other genes were found to be present in 61.9% each. Occurrence of virulence genes did not vary significantly (P&gt; 0.05) by serovar or animal species, neither by type of sample. The presence of all screened genes was significantly associated with resistance to at least one antibiotic from different classes except quinolones. These results show that transmissible pathogenic Salmonella strains are circulating in slaughterhouses in Algeria.</jats:p

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

17 páginas, 8 tablas, 3 figurasBiotic indices, which reflect the quality of the environment, are widely used in the marine realm. Sometimes, key species or ecosystem engineers are selected for this purpose. This is the case of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica, widely used as a biological quality element in the context of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). The good quality of a water body and the apparent health of a species, whether or not an ecosystem engineer such as P. oceanica, is not always indicative of the good structure and functioning of the whole ecosystem. A key point of the recent Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is the ecosystem-based approach. Here, on the basis of a simplified conceptual model of the P. oceanica ecosystem, we have proposed an ecosystem-based index of the quality of its functioning, compliant with the MSFD requirements. This index (EBQI) is based upon a set of representative functional compartments, the weighting of these compartments and the assessment of the quality of each compartment by comparison of a supposed baseline. The index well discriminated 17 sites in the north-western Mediterranean (French Riviera, Provence, Corsica, Catalonia and Balearic Islands) covering a wide range of human pressure levels. The strong points of the EBQI are that it is easy to implement, non-destructive, relatively robust, according to the selection of the compartments and to their weighting, and associated with confidence indices that indicate possible weakness and biases and therefore the need for further field data acquisition.Peer reviewe