Abstract
The study was carried out during the period extended from September 2018 to February 2019 at El-Menoufia Governorate to investigate the presence of Listeria species in some food sources as well as aborted women. A total of 250 different samples were collected including; milk (100), kariesh cheese (25), beef meat (25), hot dog (25) and Bolti fish (25). Moreover, 50 vaginal swabs were collected from 50 aborted women from El-Menoufia University Hospital and Shibin El-Kom Teaching Hospital. The obtained results in the current work showed that the highest rate of isolation of Listeria spp. was recorded in the examined samples of Bolti fish (40%), followed by beef meat (28%) then raw milk (25%), Hot dog (24%) and finally kariesh cheese (20%) with statistically significant association between these rates of isolation. In addition, distribution of Listeria spp. isolated from raw milk samples clarified the identification of L. monocytogenes (2%), L. ivanovii (7%), L. innocua (5%), L. seeligeri (6%) and L. murrayi (5%), distribution of Listeria spp. isolated from kariesh cheese samples clarified the identification of L. monocytogenes (4%), L. ivanovii (8%), L. innocua (4%), and L. seeligeri (4%), distribution of Listeria spp. isolated from beef meat samples clarified the identification of L. monocytogenes (8%), L. ivanovii (4%), L. innocua (4%), L. seeligeri (4%) and L. welshimeri (8%), distribution of Listeria spp. isolated from Hot dog samples clarified the identification of L. monocytogenes (4%), L. ivanovii (8%) and L. welshimeri (12%) and finally, distribution of Listeria spp. isolated from Bolti fish samples clarified the identification of L. monocytogenes (4%), L. ivanovii (12%), L. innocua (4%), L. seeligeri (4%) and L. welshimeri (16%). On the other side, the rate of isolation from vaginal swabs of aborted women was 16% and distribution of Listeria spp. clarified the presence of L. monocytogenes (4%), L. ivanovii (4%), L. seeligeri (2%), L. grayi (2%), L. welshimeri (2%) and L. innocua (2%). Finally, PCR was applied successfully to detect LM1 gene in identification of isolates of L. monocytogenes. The recorded results in the current study throw the light upon the zoonotic potential of L. monocytogenes in El Menoufia Province where investigated samples were found to be positive for presence of Listeria with different rates that could ring the hazard bell about the significant role of different food products in transmitting these organisms to pregnant women. Moreover, PCR is a useful diagnostic tool for detection of L. monocytogenes because it sensitive and specific so this technique should be adopted as a complementary tool to conventional tests.

Key words: Listeria, Food products, Aborted women, Isolation, PCR