Dr. Keith Lampel From U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Addresses Standard Method Of Detection
Editor's Note: We continue presentations from the international Cronobacter conference held earlier this year in Ireland. In this segment, we hear from the USA's Dr. Keith Lampel from FDA.
Biography: Dr. Keith Lampel is director of the Division of Microbiology at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). He joined the FDA as a research microbiologist in 1987 after five years as a senior staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Dr. Lampel received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Miami and was a postdoctoral fellow at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
At FDA today, he is responsible for developing bacteriological and molecular-based methods to isolate, detect, and subtype foodborne pathogens. Dr Lampel is also the Editor of FDA’s Bacteriological Analytical Manual and serves as the FDA’s expert on the detection and isolation of the foodborne bacterial pathogen Shigella.
Other professional activities include serving on several editorial boards; NIH and USDA study panels, and ad’hoc review panels for several journals and extramural grant programs. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and is a member of several PhD dissertation committees.
Summary - Development of an FDA/AOAC standard method for detection of Cronobacter
Although the number of incidences of illnesses caused by the ingestion of the bacterial pathogen Cronobacter (Enterobacter sakazakii) has not been as dramatic as other foodborne pathogens, a need remains for a robust isolation method to recover this microbe from powdered infant formula (PIF).
The current method described on the FDA website was developed in response to one such incident. Although C. sakazakii was a rather novel pathogen in an unusual food matrix, a method was devised quickly and applied to PIF samples. Unfortunately, this method requires multiple steps and at least 3-4 days for complete analysis of PIF for isolation and confirmation of C. sakazakii from the formula sample.
The revised method, however, includes a bacteriological enrichment and isolation protocol as well as the integration of a PCR-based assay. As for the bacteriological application, plating follows one-step enrichment on chromogenic agar(s) for presumptive identification of C. sakazakii. Suspected colonies are confirmed by either biochemical analysis or a real-time PCR-based assay. Therefore, isolation and identification of E. sakazakii from PIF is markedly improved and can be accomplished in 24-28 hrs.
Dr. Lampel's POWERPOINT can be found here
Biography: Dr. Han Joosten is a Senior Scientist at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. At Nestle since 1996, he is responsible for providing scientific guidance on various research projects and early identification of emerging microbiological safety issues. He also provides advice to the business and quality management on analytical methods, hurdle technology, safety assessments and HACCP.
Editor's Note: This is another report on the presentations that were made in Dublin earlier this year at the 1st International Meeting on Cronobacter (Enterobacter Sakazakii).
Professor Fanning received an Honours BSc in Biochemistry from NUI, Cork, where he also completed his PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Current research interests include the application of molecular methods to Food Safety to control zoonotic microorganisms associated with human disease. A significant part of this work relates to the characterization of the genetic mechanisms contributing to the emergence of multiple drug resistance (MDR); the role of membrane bound efflux pumps in MDR and virulence and how these phenotypes are regulated at a local and global level. 
Biography: Peter Kuhnert is working at the University of Bern, Switzerland as an associate professor in bacteriology. He completed a PhD in molecular biology studying gene regulation of the porcine TNF-locus.
Biography: Dr Ben Tall completed his PhD at the University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMAB) in 1988. His postdoctoral training took place with the Center for Vaccine Development, UMAB, and as a senior staff fellow with the Div. of Microbiol. (DMS), Microbial Ecol. Br., CFSAN, FDA. He currently works within the Virulence Mechanisms Branch of CFSAN.
Biography: After completing a PhD at Nottingham Trent University, Carol Iversen worked for Nestlé Research Centre, Switzerland, where she led an international collaboration to define the taxonomy of Enterobacter sakazakii and propose a new genus, Cronobacter. 
Being diplomatic about it, they also recognized both the memory of Dr. Riichi Sakazaki (August 21, 1920 - January 11, 2002) for whom the organism is named (see picture) and Dr. Don J. Brenner, Frances Brenner, Richard Fanning, Arnold J. Steigerwalt, and the late Mary Alyce Fife-Asbury who were all involved in the original Centers on Disease Control(CDC) studies that led to it being recognized as a separate species. They also gave a salute to Dr. Harry Muytjens for "his pioneering work in uncovering its ecology and epidemiology in cases of neonatal meningitis and the important role of powdered infant formula."
This week, Patrick and Michelle L. Korte, Daniel’s parents, sued Mead Johnson Nutritionals, the spin-off of Bristol Myers Squibb Co. that makes the Enfamil Powdered Human Milk Fortifier.