Find in Library

<i>Cronobacter</i> spp. are emerging foodborne pathogens that cause severe diseases. However, information on <i>Cronobacter</i> contamination in quick-frozen foods in China is limited. Therefore, we studied the prevalence, molecular characterization, and antimicrobial susceptibility of <i>Cronobacter</i> in 576 quick-frozen food samples collected from 39 cities in China. <i>Cronobacter</i> spp. were found in 18.75% (108/576) of the samples, and the contamination degree of the total positive samples was 5.82 MPN/g. The contamination level of frozen flour product samples was high (44.34%). Among 154 isolates, 109 were <i>C. sakazakii</i>, and the main serotype was <i>C. sakazakii</i> O1 (44/154). Additionally, 11 serotypes existed among four species. Eighty-five sequence types (STs), including 22 novel ones, were assigned, indicating a relatively high genetic diversity of the <i>Cronobacter</i> in this food type. Pathogenic ST148, ST7, and ST1 were the main STs in this study. ST4, epidemiologically related to neonatal meningitis, was also identified. All strains were sensitive to cefepime, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, and imipenem, in which the resistance to cephalothin was the highest (64.94%).Two isolates exhibited multidrug resistance to five and seven antimicrobial agents, respectively. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the comparatively high contamination level of <i>Cronobacter</i> spp. in quick-frozen foods is a potential risk warranting public attention.