Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Listeria monocytogenes isolated in Japan

The antimicrobial susceptibility of 201 Listeria monocytogenes isolates from foods, environments, animals and human patients in Japan was determined. All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, the first choice of drug for listeriosis treatment, chloramphenicol, dihydrostreptomycin, erythromycin, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, kanamycin, lincomycin, nosiheptide, salinomycin, vancomycin, and virginiamycin. A human strain was resistant to oxytetracycline. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for 50% of the strains and the MIC for 90% of the strains were comparable in all the isolates. This is the first investigation to compare antibiotic resistances between isolates from foods and isolates from human patients in Japan. The result showed that most of the isolates were susceptible to antibiotics used in this study.