Molecular Characterization of Cronobacter sakazakii in Egypt, Survival and Thermoresistance at Different Temperatures: A Potential Public Health Risk.

Cronobacter sakazakii has been implicated in causing serious infections in neonates due to consumption of contaminated infant powdered milk. The zoonotic potential of the organism was not clear due to scarce evidence about the role of food animals in the transmission of infection. C. sakazakii was identified in infant powdered milk (n = 100), infant stool (n = 100), and dairy animal feces (n = 100) with the percentages of 1%, 2%, and 4%, respectively. The outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene was characterized in all isolates of different origin, while gene encoding for zinc-metaloprotease (zpx) was only identified in isolates from animal feces. Genotyping of C. sakazakii isolates using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction revealed heterogenicity. The survival and thermotolerance of one potentially virulent C. sakazakii isolate of animal origin were examined at different temperatures. The isolate could survive with a stationary number at refrigeration temperature and the number increased significantly at room temperature after 24 h. The isolate showed thermoresistance when subjected to temperature range from 54°C to 64°C with D values ranged from 13.79 and 4.64 min and z value of 14.42. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. sakazakii isolation from buffalo feces in Egypt.