Antimicrobial resistance and genotypic characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from food in Poland

The aim of the study was to determine antimicrobial resistance and genotypic characteristics of L. monocytogenes isolated from food of animal origin from different parts of Poland during years 2013-2016. A total of 146 isolates were tested using a microbroth dilution method, whereas virulence genes and molecular serogroups were identified by PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) methods were used to analyze the genotypic relationship of the strains. Altogether, 102 pulsotypes grouped into 7 clusters and 24 sequence types, including 3 new types, were identified. Most of the strains clustered into individual patterns were originated from different food products and were isolated in different geographical regions at various time. L. monocytogenes was mostly resistant to oxacilin (90.4% strains), clindamycin (54.1%) and ceftriaxone (49.3%). A multiresistance patterns, mainly to ceftriaxone, oxacillin together with other antimicrobials, were observed among 27.4% strains. Antimicrobial resistance and presence of virulence genes suggest that food of animal origin contaminated with L. monocytogenes may present a risk for public health.