Evaluating the Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens in Livestock Using Metagenomics Approach

Food safety is the most important global health issue due to foodborne pathogens after consumption of contaminated food. Foodborne bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter spp., Bacillus cereus, Vibrio spp., Yersinia enterocolitica and Clostridium perfringens are leading causes of the majority of foodborne illnesses and deaths. These foodborne pathogens often come from the livestock feces, thus, we analyzed fecal microbial communities of three different livestock species to investigate the prevalence of foodborne pathogens in livestock feces using metagenomics analysis. Our data showed that alpha diversities of microbial communities were different according to livestock species. The microbial diversity of cattle feces was higher than that of chicken or pig feces. Moreover, microbial communities were significantly different among these three livestock species (cattle, chicken, and pig). At the genus level, Staphylococcus and Clostridium were found in all livestock feces, with chicken feces having higher relative abundances of Staphylococcus and Clostridium than cattle and pig feces. Genera Bacillus, Campylobacter, and Vibrio were detected in cattle feces. Chicken samples contained Bacillus, Listeria, and Salmonella with low relative abundance. Other genera such as Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Neisseria, Helicobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas known to be opportunistic pathogens were also detected in cattle, chicken, and pig feces. Results of this study might be useful for controlling the spread of foodborne pathogens in farm environments known to provide natural sources of these microorganisms.