Prevalence of virulent Yersinia enterocolitica in bulk raw milk and retail cheese in northern-west of Iran

To determine the prevalence of virulent Yersinia enterocolitica, 554 samples consisting of 354 bulk raw milks and 200 traditional cheeses were collected from different parts of Eastern-Azerbaijan province, during a 23-month period from 2008 to 2010. The occurrence of virulent strains of Y. enterocolitica in samples enriched in peptone sorbitol bile broth (PSBB) was evaluated via the detection of attachment invasion locus (ail) gene by PCR. The viability of virulent Y. enterocolitica in the PCR-positive samples was tested using conventional culture method and the isolates were confirmed by the second-phase ail-PCR. According to the results, 8.66% of total samples including 7.62% of bulk raw milks and 10.5% of raw milk cheeses were found ail-positive by PCR method; subsequently Y. enterocolitica was isolated by the culture method and confirmed by the second phase ail-PCR in 2.88% of total samples including 2.26% of raw milks and 4% of cheese samples. It was concluded that, a sample enrichment followed by ail-PCR was more sensitive and robust to detect and distinguish the virulent strains of Y. enterocolitica compared to the conventional culture method.