Development of a method for detecting Coxiella burnetii in cheese samples |
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Authors: | Hirai Akihiko Nakama Akiko Chiba Takashi Kai Akemi |
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Affiliation: | Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, 3–24–1 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169–0073, Japan. Akihiko_Hirai@member.metro.tokyo.jp |
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Abstract: | Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q fever, and the main route of infection in humans is inhalation of contaminated aerosols. Although oral transmission by contaminated raw milk or dairy products is also a possible route of human infection, there have been few studies investigating the presence of C. burnetii in dairy products. We developed a new method of extracting DNA from cheese and detecting C. burnetii DNA in cheese samples with a nested PCR assay. The limit of detection was 6.0 × 10(2) C. burnetii particles per gram. We subsequently used this method to examine the presence of C. burnetii in cheese at commercial markets in Tokyo from June 2005 to December 2008. Twenty-eight of 147 cheese samples were found to be positive for C. burnetii DNA. However, when we assessed the viability of C. burnetii by inoculating mice with DNA-positive samples, all of the samples were found to be negative. Thus, the viability of C. burnetii appears to have been lost in these cheese samples. |
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