Abstract
In this study, an immuno-magnetic bead (IMB)-based assay was developed to simultaneously detect Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp. and was tested in four animal-derived foods: beef, ham, egg, and ricotta cheese. The IMB-based assay exhibited good specificity by binding to five E. coli serotypes [capture efficiency (CE) average (avg.) 90.4%], five S. aureus strains (CE avg. 91.4%), and five Salmonella serotypes (CE avg. 95.4%) but not binding to non-target bacteria (CE<10%). Furthermore, the assay detected all three pathogens with a detection limit of 10 CFU/g without the need for enrichment or additional platforms. Since the results demonstrated that the IMB-based assay can effectively separate and enrich target bacteria from a variety of animal-derived food matrixes, the assay exhibits good specificity for potential use in providing rapid, immunological, presumptive identification of pathogenic bacteria.