First report of the emerging zoonotic agent Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica isolated from a retail frozen chicken in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica is an emerging zoonotic bacterium commensally living in larvae of particular flies. It has been associated with human and animal infections but never isolated from food. In the present study, a whole chicken carcass was rinsed in buffered peptone water which was then inoculated into BHI and the growth plated onto selective medium. Species identification was performed by MALDI-TOF MS. Those bacteria identified as W. chitiniclastica were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing for confirmation and MEGA software was used to obtain their phylogenetic position. The findings of this study raise concerns regarding the abattoir, transport and stock practices of frozen meat carcasses and should be of interest with regard to microbiology, entomology and food production.

Keywords: Chicken carcass; Food processing; MALDI–TOF MS; Phylogenetic; Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica.