YERSINIA SPP IN FRESH DRY SAUSAGES - INVE STIGATIONS TO INCIDENCE ANDCHARACTERIZATION OF YERSINIA-ENTEROCOLITICA ISOLATES

In the investigations on the incidence of Yersinia enterocolitica (Y. e.) in fresh dry sausages Yersinia spp. could be isolated in 27 (13,4 %) out of 202 samples mainly Y.e.) (21). The Y.e. isolates don't belon g to the serotypes 0:3; 0:5,27; 0:6,30; 0:8; 0:9 and biotypes 1b, 2, 4 considered as pathogenic. The frequent detection of a virulence plasm id in more than 50 percent of the Y.e. dry sausage isolates, however, indicates that potentially pathogenic strains have to be reckned with among them. Fresh dry sausage contaminated with Y.e. may constitute a potential risk for consumers because of the relatively long survival t ime of the germ and the Y.e.-cell numbers after direct isolation of 10 (2) to 10(4) CFU/g.