Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens in Freshwater Fish in Latvia

The aim of this study was to detect the prevalence of Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica in freshwater fish in Latvia. In total, 235 samples, including freshly caught fish from fives lakes (n = 129) and fish from retail markets (n = 106), were collected from April 2014 to December 2014 in Latvia. Samples were tested according to International Organization for Standardization methods. No Salmonella spp. were found in fresh fish from lakes or in commercially available fish. In contrast, the overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica in freshwater fish was 13% (30 of 235) and 14% (34 of 235), respectively, and no significant difference between the prevalence of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica was observed (P > 0.05). All Y. enterocolitica isolates belonged to the nonpathogenic 1A biotype. Molecular serotyping of L. monocytogenes revealed that the most distributed serogroup was 1/2a-3a (65%), followed by 1/2c-3c (25%), 1/2b-3b (5%), and 4b, 4d, 4e (5%). The prevalence of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica in freshwater lake fish was 2% (2 of 129) and 3% (4 of 129), respectively. In contrast, the prevalence of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica in fish at retail markets was 26% (28 of 106) and 28% (30 of 106), respectively. In retail samples, 9 of 58 positive fish contained both L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica. In general, differences in the prevalences of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica in retail samples were significantly higher than those in freshly caught fish (P < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that freshwater fish could be an important source of Y. enterocolitica and L. monocytogenes for consumers in Latvia.