Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Listeria Species Isolated from Different Types of Raw Meat in Iran

Listeria and particularly Listeria monocytogenes are important foodborne pathogens that can cause listeriosis and severe complications in immunocompromised individuals, children, pregnant women, and the elderly. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Listeria spp. in raw meat in Iran. From July 2010 to November 2011, a total of 1,107 samples of various raw meats were obtained from randomly selected retail butcher shops. The results of conventional bacteriologic and PCR methods revealed that 141 samples (12.7%) were positive for Listeria spp. The highest prevalence of Listeria was found in raw buffalo meat samples (7 of 24 samples; 29.2%) followed by quail meat (26 of 116 samples; 22.4%), partridge lucid (13 of 74 samples; 17.6%), and chicken meat (27 of 160 samples; 16.9%). The most common species recovered was Listeria innocua (98 of 141 strains; 75.9%); the remaining isolates were L. monocytogenes (19.1% of strains), Listeria welshimeri (6.4% of strains). Listeria seeligeri (3.50% of strains), and Listeria grayi (1.4% of strains). Susceptibilities of the 141 strains to 11 antimicrobial drugs were determined using the disk diffusion assay. Overall, 104 (73.8%) of the Listeria isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobials, and 17.0% of the isolates were resistant to three or more antimicrobials. The present study provides the first baseline data on the prevalence of Listeria in raw meat derived from sheep, goat. buffalo, quail, partridge, chicken, and ostrich in Iran and the susceptibility of these isolates to antimicrobials.