Two perspectives of Listeria monocytogenes hazards in dairy products: the prevalence and the antibiotic resistance

Listeria monocytogenes is among the most food-borne pathogens. It has the ability to grow over a range of temperature, including refrigeration temperature. Foods kept in refrigerator more than the prescribed period of time create an opportunity for the occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes. As this review shows, the prevalence of L. monocytogenes has more likely evident in pasteurized milk than other dairy products, such as raw milk. Inadequate temperature and faults in technology during pasteurization can be the disposing factors for the presence of the organism in dairy products. The organism, on the other hand, has been found to be resistant to those commonly known antibiotics that have human and veterinary importance, namely, ampicillin, Tetracycline, and chloramphenicol, streptomycin, erytromycin, penicillin G., and others. Resistance ability of the organism can be mediated by different natural and acquired resistance mechanisms, such as self-transferrable plasmids, mobilizable plasmids, and conjugative transposons. The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance of L. monocytogenes has serious public health and economic impacts at large. This paper has reviewed the prevalence and the antibiotic resistance of L. monocytogenes isolates of dairy products and the strategic mechanisms of the organism develop resistance against the antibiotics.