Isolation and identification of Cronobacter spp. obtained from different food samples in Iraq

Abstract

The study aims to isolate and identify Cronobacter spp isolated from different food in Iraq. The identification of Cronobacter depended on biochemical profile, VITEK2 system and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The antibiotic susceptibility for six recovered isolates was done also. 120 food samples were tested. Cronobacter spp was identified in 4 (3.33%) food samples by VITEK2 system. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were detected in 11 (9.16%) isolates of Cronobacter spp. Six isolates of Cronobacter spp were tested for antibiotic susceptibility (8 antibiotics) using disc diffusion method. The results showed that 5 isolates (83.3%) were resistant to ampicillin and cephalothin, and 2 isolates (33.3%) were resistant to kanamycin, streptomycin and tetracycline. While, 5 isolates (83.3%) were sensitive to chloramphenicol, 4 isolates (66.7%) were sensitive to tetracycline, and 3 isolates (50%) were sensitive to gentamicin and nalidixic acid.