Research Publications (Food Safety)

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. This study investigated the effect of NaOCl on the inactivation of human norovirus (HNoV) GII.4 infectivity in Manila clams treated with NaOCl solution at 100-1,000 mg/L chlorine for 10 min using propidium monoazide (PMA)/RT-qPCR.

There has been an increase in the reported number of animals worldwide that carry the hepatitis E virus (HEV). This study aimed to explore potential animal hosts for HEV through codon usage analysis.

Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) caused hepatitis–hydropericardium syndrome in poultry and caused huge economic losses to the poultry industry. At present, antiviral drugs have not been reported to be effective against this virus, and new treatment methods are urgently needed to treat FAdV-4. Camptothecin has been shown to have antiviral activity against various viruses; however, whether it can inhibit FAdV-4 infection remains unclear.

Hepatitis E virus is a common cause of acute viral hepatitis. We analyzed reports of hepatitis E outbreaks among forcibly displaced populations in sub-Saharan Africa during 2010–2020. Twelve independent outbreaks occurred, and >30,000 cases were reported. Transmission was attributed to poor sanitation and overcrowding.

Objectives: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) have been shown to have a role in autoimmune diseases, but their role in Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) is not completely clear. In the present study, we assessed the frequency of pDCs in peripheral blood of AIH patients under long-term standard immunosuppressive therapy. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis enrolled 27 AIH patients and 27 healthy controls.

Norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in Taiwan. To improve diagnosis as part of laboratory surveillance, AGE surveillance was conducted using a new fluorescent probe hydrolysis-based insulated isothermal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, the POCKIT system, and the results were compared with those obtained from conventional methods. A total of 119 clinical stool samples from reported AGE outbreaks were collected for this study.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging pathogen in industrialized countries. HEV infections in humans are mainly related to the HEV-3 genotype, predominant in Europe and widespread in wild boars' food products.

Wastewater discharge to the environment or its reuse after sanitization poses a concern for public health given the risk of transmission of human viral diseases. However, estimating the viral infectivity along the wastewater cycle presents technical challenges and still remains underexplored.

Human noroviruses (hNoV) are the leading cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and contaminated hands play a significant role in the spread of disease. Some hand sanitizers claim to interrupt hNoV transmission, but their antiviral efficacy on human hands is poorly characterized. The purpose of this work was to characterize the efficacy of representative commercial hand sanitizers against hNoV using an in vivo fingerpad method (ASTM E1838-17).

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Accepted Article. Background The purpose of the present study was to examine the inactivation of Salmonella enterica (50 μL; 109 CFU/g), Listeria monocytogenes (50 μL; 109 CFU/g), and murine norovirus (MNV-1; 50 μL; 107 TCID50/mL) on whole and fresh-cut strawberries after 2-min disinfection treatments (water (H2O), chlorine 200 mg/L (NaClO), water-assisted UV-C (WUV), and th

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article. In the present study, we report the occurrence of several outbreaks of hepatitis in flocks of young pheasants in France, between 2017 and 2021. The disease was characterized by prostration, apathy and a median cumulative mortality of 12%, with the birds presenting multifocal to coalescing necrotizing hepatitis on necropsy.

Chronic hepatitis (CH) in dogs is histologically characterized by an inflammatory infiltration of the liver accompanied by hepatocellular apoptosis or necrosis, varying degrees of fibrosis and regeneration. Oxidative stress has been suggested to play a role in the pathog

Norovirus (NoV) foodborne illness reduction continues to be a focus for the food safety community.  Using a previously published quantitative risk assessment model (Duret et al ., 2017. Risk Anal. , 37:2080-2106), we evaluated more than sixty scenarios examining the impact of compliance and implementation of risk management strategies identified in the FDA Food Code associated with (a) surface cleaning/sanitizing; (b) hand hygiene; (c) exclusion; and (d) restriction.

Slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) is a commonly used disinfectant for fecal sludge. Although viruses are inactivated by lime treatment, whether RNA viruses adapt to lime treatment has not yet been determined. Here, we show that murine norovirus developed higher tolerance during serial passages with lime treatment.

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.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article. The hepatitis E virus (HEV) can cause acute and chronic hepatitis in humans. Infections with the zoonotic HEV genotype 3, which can be transmitted from infected wild boar and deer to humans, are increasingly detected in Europe.

Abstract Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, and the appearance of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) renders S. aureus infections more challenging to treat. Therefore, new antimicrobial drugs are urgently needed to combat MRSA infections. Drug repurposing is an effective and feasible strategy.

The challenge to develop an animal model system to replicate human norovirus (HuNoV) has hampered the study of its pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention. In this study, we replicated HuNoV GII.4 and expressed genes in virus-infected zebrafish. Three doses of inoculation successfully replicated the virus.

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection results in multiple clinical phenotypes of varying severity. One of the critical gaps in CHB management is the lack of a genetic-based tool to aid existing hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis risk stratification models for patients with active CHB. Such individual predictive models for CHB are plagued by an inherent limitation of discriminatory power that clearly indicates the need for their improvement.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy in the world, with high mortality and poor prognosis. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the key factors implicated in the occurrence of HCC. Increasing evidence suggests that miRNAs play important roles in the development and metastasis of HBV-associated HCC (HBV-HCC).

The antinoroviral effect of copper ions is well known, yet most of this work has previously been conducted in copper and copper alloy surfaces, not copper ions in solution. In this work, we characterized the effects that Cu ions have on human norovirus capsids’ and surrogates’ integrity to explain empirical data, indicating virus inactivation by copper alloy surfaces, and as means of developing novel metal ion-based virucides.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the main causes of chronic liver diseases, the disorders of which involve multiple pathological processes and elements including host factors such as non-coding small RNAs. Although several genes have been reported to be correlated with HCV infection, the potential regulatory network has not been deciphered clearly.

Berries have been implicated as the probable vehicle of infection in multiple outbreaks of norovirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV). These foods often receive minimal or no processing and may be exposed to virus contamination at each stage of production. In an increasingly globalized world, berries have a wide distribution and can give rise to the spread of diseases in distant parts of the world.

Letters in Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. Noroviruses cause acute gastroenteritis with symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, and their high infectivity allows outbreaks to readily occur. Quickly identifying and isolating potential contaminants is an effective method to prevent the spread of outbreaks.