Distribution and Serotyping of Listeria monocytogenes in Seafood Processing Plants

Listeria spp. were isolated from the samples submitted from various seafood plants such as raw materials, products, swab samples of plants floor and conveyor belts through the whole processing procedures. All the samples were collected from 3 kinds of seafood plants such as a imitation crab meat plant, jeotgal plant and frozen seafood plant. And also serotypes of the identified L. monocytogenes were determined. Among the 301 strains of isolated Llsteria spp., 96 strains, 179 strains and 26 strains were identified as L. monocytogenes, L. innocua and L. welshimeri, respectively. While among the 145 strains of Listeria spp. isolated from the imitation crab meat plant, $74\;(51.0\%)$ strains, $64\;(44.1\%)$ strains and $7\;(4.8\%)$ strains were identified as L. monocytogenes, L. innocua and L. welshimeri, respectively. In the case of the 126 strains of Listeria spp. isolated from the frozen seafood plant, $22\;(17.5\%)$ strains of L. monocytogenes,$93\;(73.8\%)$ strains of L. innocua, and $11\;(8.5\%)$ strains of L. wdshimeri were detected. Among the 30 strains isolated from a jeotgal plant, $22\;(73.3\%)$ strains of L. innocua and $8\;(26.7\%)$ strains of L. welshimeri were detected. The detection rates of L. monocytogenes, one of the very important food poisoning bacteria especially in frozen and/or refrigerated seafoods, were relatively high as $77.1\%$ (74/96 strains) in a imitation crab meat plant and $22.9\%$ (22/96 strains) in a frozen seafood plant, but not detected from jeotgal plant. Distribution of L. monocytogenes serotypes and characterization were examined. The serotypes of 96 L. monocytogenes isolated from pork skin, pork fat, the floor and conveyor belts were 1/2a $(59.4\%)$, l/2b $(6.2\%)$, 1/2c $(12.5\%)$ and unknown serotypes $(21.9\%)$. Unknown serotypes were divided into three specific groups by the O antigen they have.