ABSTRACT: World Health Organization classified Listeria monocytogenes as a major notable foodborne pathogen associated with high mortality and hospitalization. The study reports the prevalence, antibiogram, virulence determination and genetic characterization of L. monocytogenes from different food products. A total of 250 food samples, fifty samples each from raw milk, ice cream, minced meat, fish fillet and sausage were collected from the Menoufiya governorate in Egypt. L. monocytogenes was detected in 17 (6.8%) of the tested food samples including minced meat (14%), fish fillet (8%), sausage (6%) and raw milk (6%). The antimicrobial susceptibility assay of 17 L. monocytogenes isolates against seventeen antibiotics belonging to eight antibiotics classes revealed a high susceptibility to norfloxacin (82.3%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (76.4%), cefotaxime (70.5%), erythromycin (64.6%), amoxicillin (64.6%), gentamicin (58.7%) and vancomycin (58.7%). While, high resistance was observed against oxytetracycline (76.4%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (76.4%), chloramphenicol (70.5%), doxycycline (64.6%), levofloxacin (41.2%) and azithromycin (41.2%). Of note, all L. monocytogenes isolates were multidrug-resistant. The multiplex PCR successfully amplified L. monocytogenes in all tested isolates. Screening of the five virulence-related genes revealed the hlyA and iap as the most prevalent genes followed by actA gene, however, the inlA and prfA genes were not detected in any of the studied isolates. The partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing of three L. monocytogenes isolates showed a high nucleotide similarity (99.1-99.8%) between the study isolates and various global clones, and phylogenetic analysis clustered these L. monocytogenes strains with other Listeria species including L. welshimeri, L. seeligeri and L. innocua. This study demonstrates the impact of L. monocytogenes as a major contaminant of various food products and suggests more attention to the awareness and hygienic measures in the food industry.
