Occurence of Yersinia Enterocolitica in Slaughter Pig Tonsils

Abstract

The detection and isolation of food-borne pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica strains of animal origin are not easy tasks. Over the few last years there have been a lot of classical microbiological and immunochemical methods successfully complemented in combination with the molecular based techniques. In the present study, an optimized protocol for Real-time PCR and a proper system for detection of inv gene in Y. enterocolitica are the subjects of investigation. The selected primer pair MP1/MP2 with the MPFR as a positive control and rTaqMan probe were found to be successful in detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains in pig tonsils. 52 out of 139 samples (37.4%) were positive for the inv gene. As the conventional culture method is not a reference method, the PCR products amplified from pig tonsil samples were positively verified by using Real-time PCR, which is a rapid and specific Real-time PCR method for the detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica in food. It seems to be a superior alternative for the actually present detection methods which provide huge possibilities for the identification of foods at risk for Y. enterocolitica contamination. The protocol might be efficient in detection of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains in clinical samples like meat, milk and faeces.