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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.00745-08
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Dissemination of Cronobacter (Enterobacter sakazakii) in a powdered milk protein manufacturing facility

Centres for Food Safety & Food-borne Zoonomics. UCD Veterinary Sciences Centre, School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, School of Public Health & Population Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: sfanning{at}ucd.ie.

	Abstract

The microbial contamination of air filters and possible links to contaminated product in a powdered milk protein processing facility was investigated. Over a 10 month period, seven air filters, the environment and powdered product were analysed for the presence of Cronobacter. The impact of air filter installation, maintenance and subsequent dissemination of Cronobacter was investigated. A total of 30 isolates were characterised by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE revealed the presence of three clonal populations distributed throughout the manufacturing site. This study highlights the need for proper installation of air filters to limit the dissemination of microorganisms into processing sites.