Abstract
Automated ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and serotyping were evaluated for the epidemiological study of isolates of Listeria monocytogenes collected in Finland in 1997–1999 from human blood (n = 116) and the food industry (n = 72). The isolates divided into six serotypes, 23 EcoRI ribotypes, 54 AscI
PFGE types, and 57 final subtypes if all results were combined. The
discrimination index of ribotyping was lower (0.873) than that of PFGE
(0.946). Two final subtypes dominated among human isolates, and
identical subtypes were also found among food industry isolates. All
PFGE types were serotype-specific, whereas two ribotypes included
isolates of two serotypes. Isolates of serotype 3a, involved in an
outbreak in Finland in 1999, matched one of these ribotypes, which also
included some food industry isolates of serotype l/2a. Ribotyping with
EcoRI would not have been sufficient to define the outbreak in Finland
caused by serotype 3a isolates. Although ribotyping is applicable as the
first method in outbreak situations, human and food isolates with
identical ribotypes should be investigated further by PFGE.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 562-568 |
Journal | Clinical Microbiology and Infection |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2004 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- Epidemiology
- Listeria monocytogenes
- pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
- ribotyping
- serotyping
- typing