Prevalence of Listeria spp. on a variety of meat products in Morocco

229 samples of meat and meat products were examined for the presence of Listeria spp. Listeria spp. were recovered from 47 of 61 ground bovine meats, 34 of 59 ground equine meats, 19 of 22 raw bovine sausages, 22 of 29 raw equine sausages, 6 of 21 bovine lungs, 2 of 19 equine spleens and 4 of 18 bovine diaphragms. The overall incidence of L. monocytogenes in meat and meat products samples was 14.4%. L. monocytogenes was detected in 10 of 61 ground bovine meats, in 8 of 59 ground equine meats, in 7 of 22 raw bovine sausages, in 3 of 29 raw equine sausages, in 2 of 21 bovine lungs, in 2 of 18 bovine diaphragms and 1 of 19 equine spleens. The other recovered species were L. innocua, L. seeligeri, L. ivanovii. The majority of the L. monocytogenes isolates was of serotype 4b (76.2%). Palcam Agar was found to be more efficient than Al-Zoreky Sandine Listeria Medium Agar (ASLM) for the isolation of Listeria organisms from meat products.