Antibiotic resistance profiling in Listeria monocytogenes isolates from white meat available in Pakistani retail markets.

Background: Listeriosis is a disease that occurs in immunocompromised people, caused by a zoonotic bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes. The significance of its prevalence in raw meat lies in its potential to cause illness if the meat is undercooked, fails to reach the recommended internal temperature, or through cross-contamination.

Aims: This study aims to assess the presence of L. monocytogenes in fresh chicken, fish, and frozen/ready-to-eat (RTE) meat sourced from the retail markets of two major cities in Pakistan.

Methods: The identification was done by biochemical and molecular methods targeting two genes of Listeria Pathogenicity Island (LIP-1) i.e., prfa and hly genes by PCR and was sequence analyzed, isolates sequences were submitted to NCBI GenBank to get accession number (ON859912, ON933793, ON933794, ON933795, ON933790, ON933791, and ON933792). The antibiotic resistance of these isolates was confirmed against seven antibiotics using the Disk Diffusion Method.

Results: The antibiotic susceptibility profile of these isolates shows that most of the isolates were resistant to Vancomycin (43.2%), Gentamycin (37.8%), and Erythromycin (18.9%).

Conclusion: The study reveals a significant presence of L. monocytogenes in meat samples, accompanied by antibiotic resistance to commonly used antibiotics for listeriosis in Pakistan. This alarming situation poses serious hazards to public health.