CRONOBACTER SAKAZAKII: AN EMERGING CONTAMINANT IN PEDIATRIC INFANT MILK FORMULA

Abstract

Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii) previously known as Enterobacter sakazakii is a motile, Gram-negative, non-sporing yellow pigmented rod, which belongs to lethal Enterobacteriaceae family. C. sakazakii is ubiquitously found in air, soil, floor drains, and dry product processing environment. It has been isolated from hospitals, clinical materials, and cutting fluids and is also present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), blood, sputum, throat, nose, stool, gut, skin, wounds, bone marrow, eye, ear and breast abscesses. C. sakazakii is a virulent pathogen and can adhere to silicon, latex, polycarbonate, and stainless steel. Therefore, Feeding-bottles or utensils used to prepare pediatric infant formula (PIF) should be thoroughly cleaned to diminish the development of biofilms, which could be the source of infections. Due to its virulence, C. sakazakii causes life threatening infections such as septicemia, necrotizing enterocolitis, bacteriamia and meningitis. Hence, the regulatory authorities such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Canada strongly recommend breast-feeding over the bottle-feed to minimize the risk of infections caused by C. sakazakii.