Genetic heterogeneity of Escherichia coli strains isolated from raw milk, Minas Frescal cheese, and food handlers

From February 2004 to March 2005, 140 samples of food handlers - hands and nostrils - (92), raw milk (24), and minas frescal cheese (24) were analyzed for the presence of Escherichia coli in a dairy processing plant of Goias State. Forty-seven E. coli strains were obtained and compared by DNA macrorestriction patterns obtained from pulsed-field gel electrophoresis following XbaI restriction in order to investigate the possible sources of cheese contaminations. Based on PFGE genotyping, one strain isolated from food the hands of a handler and five strains isolated from raw milk were identical or closely related to six strains from cheese suggesting, in these cases, the probable source of E. coli contamination in cheeses. No strain isolated from the nostrils was related to those found in cheeses or milk strains. The results showed high diversity among the strains, demonstrating a lack of predominance of an endemic clone in the dairy plant. This paper highlights the usefulness of PFGE as an epidemiological tool for determining the source of E. coli contamination in the food industry.