Prevalence and Abundance of Bacterial Pathogens of Concern in Shrimp, Catfish and Tilapia Obtained at Retail Stores in Maryland, USA
Salah Elbashir,
Michael Jahncke,
Angelo DePaola,
John Bowers,
Jurgen Schwarz,
Anuradha J. Punchihewage-Don,
Byungrok Min,
Tom Rippen,
Salina Parveen
Affiliations
Salah Elbashir
Food Microbiology and Safety Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA
Michael Jahncke
Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Tech., Hampton, VA 23669, USA
Angelo DePaola
Angelo DePaola Consulting, 12719 Dauphin Island Pkwy, Coden, AL 36523, USA
John Bowers
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Jurgen Schwarz
Food Microbiology and Safety Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA
Anuradha J. Punchihewage-Don
Food Microbiology and Safety Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA
Byungrok Min
Food Microbiology and Safety Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA
Tom Rippen
Food Microbiology and Safety Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA
Salina Parveen
Food Microbiology and Safety Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD 21853, USA
Outbreaks of human gastroenteritis have been linked to the consumption of contaminated domestic and imported seafood. This study investigated the microbiological quality of seafood obtained from retail stores on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. A total of 440 samples of domestic and imported frozen shrimp, catfish and tilapia samples were analyzed for aerobic plate count (APC), total coliforms, Escherichia coli and seafood-borne-pathogens (Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni). The prevalence of APC, coliforms and E. coli positive samples was 100%, 43% and 9.3%, respectively. Approximately 3.2%, 1.4%, 28.9% and 3.6% of the samples were positive for V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni, respectively. The MPN/g ranges were 150–1100 MPN/g for vibrios, 10–1100 MPN/g for Salmonella and 93–460 MPN/g for C. jejuni in seafood, respectively. Comparing bacterial prevalence by type or source of seafood, the only significant difference identified was Salmonella-positive imported tilapia (33.3%) versus domestic tilapia (19.4%). The quantitative data on pathogen levels in the present study provide additional information for quantitative risk assessment not available in previous surveys. The findings of this study suggest the association of potential food safety hazards with domestic and imported seafood and warrant further large-scale studies and risk assessment.
