Abstract: Enterobacter sakazakii (Cronobacter spp.) is an emerging food-borne conditional pathogen associated with meningitis, bacteremia and necrotizing enterocolitis; especially neonatal meningitis is of high potential danger in neonates. Many bio-molecular assays like regular PCR, real-Time PCR, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, and molecular probes are highly sensitive for detecting specific food-borne pathogens, and they have overcome the disadvantages of being time-consuming, tedious operation and ambiguous results, which are usually associated with conventional detection methods.

Key words: Enterobacter sakazakii (Cronobacter spp.), molecular detection methods, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, molecular probe