Detection of airborne lactococcal bacteriophages in cheese plants

Details

• Personal Author:
  Duchaine C ; Gendron L ; Lindsley, William G. ; Massé D ; Moineau S ; Rousseau GM ; Veillette M ; Verreault D
• Description:
  The dairy industry adds starter bacterial cultures to heat-treated milk to control the fermentation process during the manufacture of many cheeses. These highly concentrated bacterial populations are susceptible to virulent phages that are ubiquitous in cheese factories. In this study, the dissemination of these phages by the airborne route and their presence on working surfaces were investigated in a cheese factory. Several surfaces were swabbed and five air samplers (polytetrafluoroethylene filter, polycarbonate filter, BioSampler, Coriolis cyclone sampler and NIOSH two-stage cyclone bioaerosol personal sampler) were tested. Samples were then analyzed for the presence of two Lactococcus lactis phage groups (936 and c2) and quantification was done by qPCR. Both lactococcal phage groups were found on most swabbed surfaces while airborne phages were detected at concentrations of at least 10(3) genomes/m(3) of air. The NIOSH sampler had the highest rate of air samples with detectable levels of lactococcal phages. This study demonstrates that virulent phages can circulate through the air and that they are ubiquitous in cheese manufacturing facilities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dairy Products Food Additives Food Contamination Food Handling Food Industry Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne-particles Bacteria Dairy-products Food Food-additives Food-contaminants Food-processing Particulates Sampling Sampling-methods
• ISSN:
  0099-2240
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  491-497
• Volume:
  77
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038060
• Citation:
  Appl Environ Microbiol 2011 Jan; 77(2):491-497
• Contact Point Address:
  Caroline Duchaine, Centre de Recherche, Hôpital Laval, Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie 19 et de Pneumologie, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec City, Québec, Canada, G1V 4G5
• Email:
  caroline.duchaine@bcm.ulaval.ca
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:211274210426870f684c44dc337d966cf7d70d640da81842a6b9d4ef78bcb41382f64a210673afd1f90c30d9efef7265b79dce783c7df9743127f50f6a831260
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191887/cdc_191887_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 359.04 KB ]