Prevalence, genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from ready-to-eat meat products in Nanjing, China

The prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes were investigated in a total of 628 ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products collected from different supermarkets and open-air markets in Nanjing, China. All isolates were further examined for the serogroup, virulence marker gene, genotype and antibiotic resistance. Thirty-three out of 628 samples (5.3%) were positive confirmed by the bacteriological method and PCR including 7.2% (17/236) of sauce pickled products, 4.2% (11/260) of cured products and 5.6% (5/90) of smoked and roasted products. Fifteen isolates (45.5%) belonged to serogroup 1/2a, 3a; 16 (48.5%) belonged to serogroup 1/2b, 3b and 2 (6.1%) belonged to serogroup 1/2c, 3c. All of them were positive for the virulence marker genes-iap, inlA, inlC, inlJ and lmo2672. Thirty-three isolates were grouped into 11 sequence types (STs) by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The results of the antimicrobial susceptibility revealed that the isolates were sensitive to most of the antimicrobials used in the study except trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (100%), chloramphenicol (33.3%), ciprofloxacin (30.3%) and tetracycline (12.1%). Our findings indicated high prevalence of L. monocytogenes especially in sauce pickled products and from open-air markets, high prevalence of serogroups 1/2a, 3a and 1/2b, 3b that involved in the majority of foodborne outbreaks could be a public health concern. In addition, resistance of the isolates to the antimicrobials was also a potential health hazard for consumers. •The prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes was 5.3% in ready-to-eat meat products.•The isolates belonged to three serogroups with serogroup 1/2b, 3b being predominant (48.5%).•All the isolates were positive for five virulence marker genes.•MLST revealed that ST 5, ST 8, ST 705 and ST 121 may persist in the local area.•All the isolates were resistant to trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole.