Description
Listeriosis, which is caused by Listeria monocytogenes, is one of the most serious and severe foodborne diseases. Although it is a relatively rare disease with 0.1 to 10 cases per million people per year (country/region dependent), the high associated mortality rate (20-30% in high-risk individuals such as infants, elderly, immunosuppressed patients and pregnant women), makes it a significant health concern. These facultative anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria can be found in a wide variety of food products, including raw milk, poultry, meat and fish. Due to the ability of L. monocytogenes to grow to high densities at temperatures as low as 0ºC, its presence is particularly hazardous in chilled processed foods with a long shelf-life under refrigeration, such as pâtés, soft cheeses, smoked fish, and ready-to-eat cooked meals.
Traditional microbiological detection and confirmation methods are long established and well developed but typically require 4-5 days in order to obtain results. This qPCR Detection Kit provides a fast, sensitive and reliable method for the detection of L.monocytogenes based on qPCR using specific FAM-labeled probes, requiring less than 2 days. This immense time reduction allows taking appropriate action, if needed, much sooner.
This kit is compatible with instruments equipped with FAM and ROX channels. The detection limit is approximately 500fg of L.monocytogenes DNA allowing the detection of, after enrichment, as little as 1-10 cells per 25g of food sample, with a specificity of 100%.