Current cronobacter spp. researches on prevalence, control, and detection

Abstract

Cronobacter spp (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii), a Gram-negative bacillus, is a rare cause of meningitis and central nervous system infections. In England, the first case infected by this organism occurred in 1958. By July 2008, approximately 120 documented cases of Cronobacter spp. infection and at least 27 deaths have been identified from all around the world in the published literature and in reports submitted by public health sectors. In 2007, it was proposed by European organizations that the original taxonomy of E .sakazakii would be revised, to consist of five new species moved to a new genus, and identified as "Cronobacter". E sakazakii has thus now been reclassified as 6 separate species in the new genus, Cronobacter, gen. nov., within the Enterobacteriaceae family. The new species are presently Cronobacter sakazakii, C. turicensis, C. malonaticus, C. muytjensii, and C. dublinensis; the sixth species is identified simply as genomospecies I, as currently including only two representative strains. The objectives of this review are to provide insight on (1) the classification and taxonomy of Cronobacter spp., (2) its clinical etiology and pathogenicity, (3) prequency of Cronobacter spp. in different categories of ready-to-eat food other than infant formula, (4) methods for detecting, isolating and typing Cronobacter spp., and (5) recent research trends for detecting Cronobacter spp. © 2012, The Microbiological Society of Korea.