Prevalence and antimicrobial-resistant characterization of isolated from ready-to-eat rice products in Eastern China.

is a major food-borne bacterial pathogen in the world, which can cause diarrhea and emetic syndrome. This study aimed to reveal the quantitative prevalence of in ready-to-eat (RTE) rice products in Eastern China and to gain essential information on the characteristics of isolates. A total of 91 out of the 1071 samples were positive for . The contamination level of in 0.5 % of RTE rice product samples outnumbered 10 CFU/g. The number of attained 10-10 CFU/g in one sample. The distribution patterns of virulence genes in isolates were identified. 84.6% of the isolates had at least one enterotoxin or emetic toxin gene. The predominant pattern was XXV. 9.9% of isolates belonged to it and possessed one enterotoxin gene . The occurrence rate of and was 36.3% and 47.3%, respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed a high resistance rate toward penicillin, and 23.1% of the isolates were multi-drug resistant. isolates were genotyped by using ERIC-PCR. 89 genotypes were determined. The Hunter Gaston Discriminatory Index (HGDI) attained 0.9995. Relationships analysis revealed that Group A isolates tended to carry , , , , and show resistance to penicillin/trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. This study was useful for updating the knowledge of the contamination status of in RTE rice products in China.