{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T15:46:49Z","timestamp":1787240809887,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,22]],"date-time":"2025-12-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766361600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001321","name":"National Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001321","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["f1000research.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["F1000Res"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>\n                    Abstract* Background Fresh produce is a vital vehicle for the transmission of foodborne pathogens, yet data from low- and middle-income countries on contamination levels and associated health risks remain scarce. Methods This study provided an analysis of\n                    <ns3:italic>Listeria<\/ns3:italic>\n                    species contamination in 208 fruit and vegetable samples from major geopolitical regions in Nigeria. Conventional microbiological techniques and molecular methods were used for the analysis. Results We reported a high prevalence (38.5%) and substantial bacterial loads (up to 8.33\u00d710\n                    <ns3:sup>2<\/ns3:sup>\n                    CFU\/25g) among the organically grown crops, with produce from Northern states exhibiting the highest contamination. Genetic characterisation revealed significant diversity, including novel strains and others closely related to global clones, confirming a resilient environmental presence. Importantly, antibiotic susceptibility testing uncovered alarming resistance rates to vancomycin (83.1%) and oxacillin (88.1%), with hierarchical clustering identifying distinct multidrug-resistant clusters. The presence of resistance genes (\n                    <ns3:italic>vanA, vanB, tetL, tetM<\/ns3:italic>\n                    ) and the virulence gene\n                    <ns3:italic>hly<\/ns3:italic>\n                    was confirmed. A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), incorporating this empirical data, estimated the annual probability of illness, highlighting high-risk produce-region combinations. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that fresh produce in Nigeria is a significant reservoir of pathogenic, antimicrobial-resistant\n                    <ns3:italic>L. monocytogenes<\/ns3:italic>\n                    , posing a serious public health threat. This study highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions, including enhanced agricultural water safety and strengthened surveillance of antimicrobial resistance, to mitigate risks and support evidence-based food safety policies in Nigeria and similar regions.\n                  <\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.171697.1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,22]],"date-time":"2025-12-22T05:49:05Z","timestamp":1766382545000},"page":"1421","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Antibiogram, antibiotic resistance genes and health risks of Listeria species from fruits and vegetables in selected locations in Nigeria"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2970-2140","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anthony","family":"Adegoke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology Uyo Akwa Ibom University of Uyo"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences Durban KwaZulu-Natal Durban University of Technology"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kate O","family":"Igoche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology Uyo Akwa Ibom University of Uyo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olaniyi","family":"Owolawi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education Nsukka Enugu State University of Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moses","family":"Ekpenyong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Computing Uyo University of Uyo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aso Joseph","family":"Omololu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology Ile-Ife Obafemi Awolowo University Faculty of Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olayinka A","family":"Aiyegoro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management X1290 Potchefstroom 2520 North-West University Private Bag"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1001923","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1001923","article-title":"World Health Organization global estimates and regional comparisons of the burden of foodborne disease in 2010.","volume":"12","author":"A Havelaar","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS Med."},{"key":"ref3","first-page":"4-13","article-title":"Listeria \u2013 review of epidemiology and pathogenesis.","volume":"40","author":"V Ramaswamy","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. 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We also want to appreciate the observation as follows:  &nbsp;1. Adding some recent studies from 2021\u20132026 could further strengthen the discussion and provide better context for the findings.  Response: Once again, thank you. We will update this as suggested by the reviewer.  2. Is the McFarland value stated in the manuscript accurate? Yes. 0.5 McFarland standard was intended. The approx. value is 1.5 x 10\n<sup>8<\/sup>&nbsp;CFU\/mL. We will use this value used this specific value in the research. We are grateful for this important point.","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1421\/v1#referee-comment-15396","order":1,"name":"referee-comment-15396","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.189332.r460403, Bahar Onaran Acar, Ankara University, Ankara, 05 Mar 2026, version 1, 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-1421\/v1#referee-response-460403","order":2,"name":"referee-response-460403","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"The research was supported by National Research Fund (NRF) of the TETFUND, Nigeria Project Code TETF\/DR&DCE\/NRF\/2020\/SETI\/99\/VOL.1. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":3,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}