Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in raw whole milk for human consumption in Colombia by real-time PCR

The aim of our work was to detect Listeria monocytogenes in raw whole milk from five municipalities of Boyacá-Colombia using real-time PCR. A PCR hybridization probe format was used to analyze the presence of L. monocytogenes, using specific primers to amplify a 149 bp fragment from the metalloprotease gene ( mpl). In this study on a total number of 81 samples, 21 gave positive results for L. monocytogenes by real-time PCR and 13 samples were positive by conventional method. These results indicate a high presence of this pathogen in this area of the country and that this method is considerably faster than current standard methods.