Abstract
Cronobacter sakazakii is a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious infections (enterocolitis and meningitis) with high fatalities in neonatal infants. This work was designed to isolate Cronobacter sakazakii and explore its molecular identification and prevalence rate. The present study was performed on 225 random samples of powdered milk infant formula, milk powder, minced meat, fresh cow milk, and diarrheic infant stool (45 for each) collected from different shops and hospitals in Cairo, Kaliobia, and Monofia governorates, Egypt. Cronobacter sakazakii isolates were characterized by conventional phenotypical methods and MICROBACTTM kits, then genotypic identification of the common 16S rRNA gene by PCR. Out of the fifteen Cronobacter sakazakii isolates obtained, the majority were isolated from powdered milk infant formula samples 5 isolates (11.1%), 4 from milk powder (8.9%), 3 from diarrheic infant stool (6.7%), 2 from minced meat (4.4%), and 1 from fresh cow milk samples (2.2%).
The Cronobacter sakazakii 16S rRNA gene was detected in all tested isolates. Therefore, the results of this work highlight the importance of Cronobacter sakazakii as a high public health concern in newborns, indicating the potential risk of infant infection by this bacteria from mostly all sources of infant food.