In this study 96 samples of fresh sausage containing only pork and sold in Porto Alegre were investigated for the presence of Yersinia enterocolitica. Each sample was incubated in phosphate buffer saline at 4°C for cold-enrichment and plated onto yersinia selective agar (cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin agar). Y. enterocolitica could not be isolated from any of the sausage samples used in this study. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the method was tested by recoverying of Y. enterocolitica from fresh pork sausage that were artificially contaminated with different levels of inoculum. The method showed a good sensitivity but a low reproductibility in the recovery asssays. Only samples containing at least 6,3x10(4)CFU/ml resulted in good recovery patterns. Other enrichment and selective steps must be added to the method to provide a better yersinia isolation from low contaminated pork sausage.
sausage; pork; Yersinia enterocolitica
