
Lab Test Simultaneously Detects
Foodborne PathogensBy Linda McGraw May 22, 2000A laboratory test that simultaneously
detects Salmonella and a deadly form of E. coli O157:H7 has been
developed by Agricultural Research
Service microbiologists in Ames, Iowa. The new test uses a technique called fluorescent polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) to detect the two foodborne pathogens. PCR makes many copies of genetic
material called DNA, the basic genetic building blocks of bacteria and other
living organisms. Then two fluorescent probes, which are present in the PCR
tube, specifically detect Salmonella and O157:H7 by detecting the DNA
specific to these bacteria. So far, the test has been evaluated to detect between one and 10 bacterial
cells in meats and feces that are cultured for 6 to 16 hours prior to
performing PCR, which requires only 4 hours. This makes the new test several
hours faster than standard culturing techniques now used to detect bacterial
contamination in meat or livestock feces. Detecting the deadly E. coli O157:H7 is critical to stopping the
spread of this disease-causing bacterium, which causes bloody diarrhea and can
be fatal. Salmonella and E. coli are found in animal feces and
spread to humans through undercooked contaminated foods. Each year, about
40,000 reported cases of salmonellosis and 73,000 estimated cases of diarrheal
illness due to O157:H7 occur in the U.S. ARS microbiologists Vijay K. Sharma and Steve A. Carlson at ARS
National Animal Disease Center in
Ames validated the test by using artificially contaminated beef, chicken and
cattle feces. The test would be just as accurate on pork. The meat processing industry, which slaughters more than $50 billion worth
of livestock annually, could use this technology to meet current federal
regulations that mandate zero tolerance for visible fecal contamination and for
E. coli O157:H7. Sharma presented the findings today at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
meeting in Los Angeles. ARS is the chief research agency for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Scientific contact: Vijay K. Sharma, National Animal Disease Center,
P.O. Box 70, Ames, IA 50010, phone (515) 663-7279, fax (515) 663-7458,
[email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture |