1. Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in traditional meats derived from game animals in Nunavik.
- Author
-
Gauthier M, Simard M, and Blais BW
- Subjects
- Animals, Arctic Regions epidemiology, Canada, Humans, Prevalence, Rural Health, Escherichia coli O157 isolation & purification, Food Microbiology, Inuit, Meat microbiology, Salmonella isolation & purification
- Abstract
Introduction: The objectives of this project were two-fold, to: (1) implement rapid, simple, and inexpensive test methods enabling the detection of the foodborne pathogens Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in foods and related samples, for the purpose of establishing basic on-site food microbiology testing capability at the Nunavik Research Centre (NRC) in Kuujjuaq, with the provision of hands-on training in the operation of methods; and (2) use this new capability to conduct a survey of the eastern Canadian Arctic in order to ascertain the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in traditional meats derived from arctic food animals., Methods: To verify the effectiveness of training provided to NRC staff, proficiency test samples consisting of ground beef inoculated with salmonellae and E. coli O157:H7 were prepared by the Proficiency Testing Unit of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and shipped to the NRC for analysis. The NRC laboratory demonstrated 100% accuracy in the identification of the target pathogens in all samples, demonstrating the successful implementation of on-site test capability. For the prevalence study, a total of 129 samples from arctic mammals, fowl, fish and environmental swabs from community freezers were analyzed at both the NRC and CFIA laboratories., Results: No E. coli O157- or Salmonella-positives were identified for any of the samples examined., Conclusion: These results represent a first step towards the creation for future reference of a database on the prevalence of the pathogens E. coli O157 and Salmonella.
- Published
- 2010