Risk of foodborne pathogens in various food products at retail in Qatar

Abstract

Foodborne illness is a major limitation to the advancement of world health. Bacterial pathogens among the leading causes of foodborne illness include Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Listeria. In an effort to understand the risk these foodborne pathogens pose regionally, this study investigated the presence of these pathogens among retail products in Qatar. Using a combination of bacterial selection and molecular detection, swabs and food samples collected from retail items (n = 287) were screened for the presence of these foodborne pathogens. E. coli O157:H7 was detected in 4.2% of all samples tested. Other E. coli serogroups were detected at varying proportions across all samples: O26 (5.9%), O111 (3.5%), O121 (1.4%), O45 (20.2%), O103 (2.1%) and O145 (2.1%). The occurrence of the other pathogens varied: Salmonella (13.6%), Listeria (5.2%), C. jejuni (1%), C. coli (8%) and C. lari (0%). While E. coli O157:H7 arguably receives the most attention in STEC surveillance programs, our study shows that other food adulterant serotypes, such as E. coli O45, could potentially play a role in infection. Although the prevalence for many pathogens is low, the higher occurrence of STEC genes and STEC serotype O45 is a reason for concern.