Studies on fermented corn flour food poisoning in rural areas of China. II. Isolation and identification of causal microorganisms.

Using potato dextrose agar medium, 40 strains of microorganisms were isolated from leftover fermented corn flour samples involved in outbreaks of food poisoning. All strains produced powerful toxins which caused the same intoxication to mice, dogs, and monkeys as the leftover food samples. On the basis of results obtained from the morphology of this bacteria and its colony, from biochemical tests, and from the G-C mole percentage in DNA, the bacteria was identified as Flavobacterium farinofermentans nov. sp. (Meng, Z. and Wang, D.).