Listeria monocytogenes prevalence varies more within fields than between fields or over time on conventionally farmed New York produce fields

What is it about?

Our study focuses on spatiotemporal variation in the likelihood of isolating L. monocytogenes from produce preharvest environments at small spatial scales. Specifically, we (i) tracked changes in L. monocytogenes prevalence in two nearby fields over one growing season, and (ii) identified spatial and meteorological factors associated with L. monocytogenes isolation from multiple sample types (i.e., drag swab, soil, produce and agricultural water). We found that L. monocytogenes isolation is mainly driven by water-related factors. We also characterized all L. monocytogenes by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and identified PFGE types that were isolated on multiple sampling visits and/or from multiple sample types suggesting that PFGE types persisted or were repeatedly introduced into the farm environment.

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