Indagine sulla presenza di Escherichia coli 0157 in mozzarella di bufala campana

Verocytotoxin-producing Eschenchia coli O157 is a well recognized cause of severe disease in human beings. The results of a recent survey indicate that Mediterranean water buffalo reared in Italy could be considered as a natural reservoir of E. coli O157. Since buffalo farming is an important business activity in some areas of southern Italy, further studies were needed to evaluate the occurrence of E. coli O157 contamination in mozzarella cheese. It has been therefore carried out a survey by sampling a total of 510 buffalo mozzarella cheese. All the samples were tested for the presence of E. coli 0157 using a sensitive procedure based on ISO/DIS 16654:1999 (then ISO 16654:2001) which includes an immunomagnetic separation step. This pathogen was not detected in any of the tested samples. This results are somehow reassuring about E. coli 0157 contamination in this typical product of the Italian gastronomy.