Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes Prevalence in Shrimps from Seafood Industry in Albania

LILJANA LUFO1, ELVIRA BELI2, ENKELEDA KABA3

1 Department of preclinical modules, Faculty of Veterinary, Agriculture University of Tirana,
2 Department of aquaculture and fishery, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agriculture University of Tirana
3 Bio-Diagnostic Laboratory BIO-V Ltd, Tirana

* Corresponding author; E-mail: llufo@ubt.edu.al

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Abstract

Seafood industry in Albania is growing fast in the last decade. With the increased demand for shrimps and prawns consumption, the public health concern also has increased. Member of Listeria spp. especially Listeria monocytogenes has a significant role as a human pathogen. The presence of these bacteria in the seafoodproduction plants is strongly related to its presence in marine environment, cross-contamination, resistance and survival at low temperature condition, making this pathogen a serious threat to this industry.The aim of this study is to determine the overall prevalence of Listeria spp. and more specifically L. monocytogenes in frozen and processed shrimps from Albania seafood industry, as well as environment contamination rate of processing plants. 333 shrimps samples (processed and frozen), and 25 swabs samples from processing environment were collected during May 2021- December 2022 period. Samples of shrimps taken before and after processing, and samples of swabs were analyzed for the presence of Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes using ISO standard microbiological methods. 30 (8.3%) out of 358 samples examined, were found positive for Listeria spp. The average prevalence of L. monocytogenes in shrimps resulted 1.2%, meanwhile in swabs is 8%. The prevalence is higher in frozen shrimps (4.7%) compared to processed shrimps (0.37%). The results clearly indicate that the Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes are present in the shrimps from food processing industry in Albania, but contamination rate in these categories is low and represents a low risk for public health. The higher prevalence of Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in frozen shrimps samples compare to processed shrimps indicate that the effective processing procedures are in place.

Keywords: Listeria spp., Listeria monocytogenes, shrimps, swab, prevalence, Albania