Survival of Helicobacter suis bacteria in retail pig meat

Helicobacter (H.) suis colonizes the gastric mucosa of pigs world-wide and is the most prevalent non-Helicobacter pylori Helicobacter species in humans. This agent might be transmitted to humans by manipulation or consumption of contaminated pork. H. suis is a very fastidious micro-organism and is extremely difficult to isolate. Therefore, we developed a non-culture dependent, quantitative detection method allowing differentiation of viable from dead H. suis bacteria in pork. This was established by a combination of ethidium bromide monoazide (EMA) treatment and real-time (RT)-PCR. This EMA RT-PCR was applied to 50 retail pork samples. In two samples, viable H. suis bacteria were detected. Sequence analysis of the obtained PCR products confirmed the presence of H. suis DNA. Viable H. suis bacteria persisted for at least 48h in experimentally contaminated pork. In conclusion, consumption of contaminated pork may constitute a new route of transmission for H. suis infections in humans.