Research Publications (Food Safety)

Campylobacter jejuni is a foodborne pathogen causing bacterial gastroenteritis, with the highest incidence reported in Europe. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in C. jejuni, as well as in many other bacterial pathogens, has increased over the last few years. In this report, we describe the presence of a plasmid in a multi-drug-resistant C. jejuni strain isolated from a gastroenteritis patient. Mating experiments demonstrated the transference of this genetic element (pCjH01) among C.

EFSA Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3, March 2022. Under European Union legislation (Article 32, Regulation (EC) No 396/2005), the EFSA provides an annual report which examines pesticide residue levels in foods on the European market. This report is based on data from the official national control activities carried out by EU Member States, Iceland and Norway and includes a subset of data from the EU-coordinated control programme, which uses a randomised sampling strategy.

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. A temperature–induced counter current homogenous liquid–liquid extraction procedure performed in a burette has been proposed for the isolation of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 from various fruit chip samples. In this method, a homogenous solution of deionized water and cyclohexyl amine is added onto the solid sample and the resulted mixture is vortexed.

Letters in Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is a common marine foodborne pathogen that causes gastroenteritis. With the long-term use of antibiotics, many bacteria become resistant strains, therefore, developing antibiotic-free antimicrobial strategies is urgent.

A multi-drug resistant, CTX-M-65 producing Salmonella Infantis was identified from a patient in Brazil. Whole genome sequencing followed by hybrid assembly (short and long reads) indicated the presence of blaCTX-M-65 in a pESI-like megaplasmid in this ST32 isolate and phylogenetic analysis showed high similarity with IncFIB S. Infantis isolates from food and poultry in the USA.

Various studies have identified the kidney as a target organ for patulin (PAT)-induced toxicity. However, detailed mechanistic insights into PAT-induced nephrotoxicity had not yet been done.

Giardia duodenalis is one of the most common parasitic causes of gastrointestinal illness in humans worldwide with widespread infections in mammalian hosts. It frequently infects cattle, producing a high number of cysts. Cattle can harbor both host-adapted assemblage E and human pathogenic assemblages A and B.

Felids are definitive hosts of Toxoplasma gondii, being the only hosts that can spread the infection through oocyst shedding in their feces. The elevated presence of this parasite in the domestic cat (Felis catus), and its close contact with humans, make it necessary to obtain reliable diagnostic methods to detect positive animals as a public health measure.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen able to survive in a wide range of conditions, including low temperatures, being highly persistent in the food-processing environments. Anti-listerial bacteriocins produced by Latilactobacillus curvatus CRL705 and CRL1579 were used to prevent/control biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes FBUNT, Scott A and CECT 4031T strains at 10 °C and genes transcription was evaluated.

Salmonella is an essential food-borne pathogenic microorganism. Humans could get infected by consuming of Salmonella-contaminated foods, especially contaminated meat. In this study, a total of 580 retail meat samples (280 pork, 240 chicken, and 60 goose) were collected from slaughterhouses in Hangzhou to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Salmonella.

Campylobacter jejuni is a globally important foodborne pathogen that can exist environmentally in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, leading to missed detection of VBNC cells in food and false results in epidemiological surveillance. To establish a method for its resuscitation from the VBNC state and enable better detection, the mechanisms by which C. jejuni are induced into the VBNC state should be understood in detail.

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is one of the largest commercial harvesting areas for Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in the United States. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacterium naturally present in estuarine waters accumulates in shellfish and is a major cause of seafood-borne illness. Growers, consumers, and public-health officials have raised concerns about rising vibriosis cases in the region.

The halophilic γ-proteobacterium Halomonas elongata DSM 2581T thrives at salt concentrations well above 10 % NaCl (1.7 M NaCl). A well-known osmoregulatory mechanism is the accumulation of the compatible solute ectoine within the cell in response to osmotic stress. While ectoine accumulation is central to osmoregulation and promotes resistance to high salinity in halophilic bacteria, ectoine has this effect only to a much lesser extent in non-halophiles.

Chitosan-ZnO nanoparticle (ZnONP) edible coating was applied to extend shelf life of wild-simulated Korean ginseng root (WsKG). In antimicrobial testing of various coating solutions (0.01, 0.02, 0.03% ZnONP), Bacillus cereus (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) were most inhibited by the 0.03% chitosan-ZnONP solution. The 0.03% chitosan-ZnONP solution was finally used for edible coating of WsKG.

Fungi and mycotoxins in silage can have detrimental consequences for both cattle and human health. This pilot study identified, via the routinary direct plating method, the dominant cultivable fungi in mouldy grass silages (GS) (n = 19) and maize silages (MS) (n = 28) from Austria. The profiles of regulated, modified, and emerging mycotoxins together with other fungal metabolites were analysed via LC-(ESI)MS/MS.

This study aims to test the toxicity of some metallic elements on Salmonella enterica strains and their power to grow and to develop a biofilm to overcome this environmental stress. From 50 selected strains of Salmonella, 70% belong to the Kentucky serotypes that is the most frequent one, followed by the other serotypes such as Amsterdam 6%, anatum 4%, derby 4% Enteritidis 4%, Zanzibar 4%, typhyrimium 2%, gallinaruim 2%, inbondaka 2% and Newport 2%.

A programmed, autonomous, and self-powered DNA motor was developed for one-step amplification detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). The OTA can bind with the aptamer of hairpin and induce the opening of hairpin. Then, the Mg2+-specific DNAzyme can circularly cleave the fluorophore-labeled DNA on the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), causing autonomous and processive movement of DNA motor.

The most commonly reported serotype of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is O157:H7. This pathogen presents a threat to public health and is a cause of foodborne illness worldwide. The efficient and sensitive detection of E. coli O157:H7 remains a challenge for food safety. In this report, we developed a sensitive and specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reaction coupled with a lateral flow (LF) assay to rapidly detect E. coli O157:H7.

2,2-Dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide (DBNPA) has been used as a biocide in industrial water applications due to its instantaneous antimicrobial activity and rapid chemical breakdown. In this study, DBNPA is considered a potential alternative for antibiotics used for bacterial control during corn-to-ethanol fermentation. A method using LC/MS/MS was developed to accurately quantify DBNPA in water.

Arsenic (As) is a carcinogenic element and the As-contamination in drinking water is considered a major health problem. Thus, we assessed the As-removing ability of the aqueous solution of six synthetic minerals: 2-line ferrihydrite (2ℓFh), goethite (Gt), hematite (Hm), layered double hydroxide (LDH), calcined layered double hydroxide (cLDH), and poorly crystallized aluminum hydroxide (pAlHyd).

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) regulates resistance to β-lactams via preferential production of an alternative penicillin-binding protein (PBP), PBP2a. PBP2a binds many β-lactam antibiotics with less affinity than PBPs which are predominant in methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) strains. A novel, rather frequent in vitro phenotype was recently identified among clinical MRSA bloodstream isolates, termed “NaHCO3-responsiveness”.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 2, Page 919-925, March 2022. Toxoplasma gondii infects almost all warm-blooded animals, including humans and non-human primates. Many cases of T. gondii infection in non-human primates have been reported worldwide. In this study, 15 monkeys were collected from zoos in Henan Province between 2016 and 2019.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 2, Page 874-880, March 2022. Toxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is a widespread zoonosis capable to affect a wide range of warm-blooded vertebrates. In the past two decades, T. gondii emerged as a significant aquatic pathogen with some pathogenic atypical genotypes isolated and characterized from stranded marine mammals.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 2, Page 195-203, March 2022. In humans, co-infection of hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV, HCV) is common and aggravates disease outcome. Infection-mediated disease aggravation is poorly understood, partly due to lack of suitable animal models. Carnivores are understudied for hepatitis virus homologues. We investigated Mexican carnivores (ringtails, Bassariscus astutus) for HBV and HCV homologues.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 2, Page 286-296, March 2022. Hepatitis E is a significant liver disease caused by infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV). The risk factors for hepatitis E in developed countries include blood transfusion and ingestion of undercooked meat or meat products derived from HEV-infected animals. Since 2000, there has been increased human hepatitis E incidence reported in Singapore.