Research Publications (Food Safety)

by Benjarat Phattanawiboon, Nutthawan Nonthabenjawan, Patcharaporn Boonyos, Chanya Jetsukontorn, Worakarn Towayunanta, Kobkool Chuntrakool, Karn Ngaopravet, Kriangsak Ruchusatsawat, Ballang Uppapong, Somchai Sangkitporn, Eisuke Mekada, Yoshiharu Matsuura, Masashi Tatsumi, Hiroto Mizushima

The surface of iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa  L.) is favorable to the survival of pathogens like bacteria, parasites, and viruses such as Norovirus.

M. K. Steele et al. Norovirus is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States. We estimated the basic (R0) and effective (Re) reproduction numbers for 7,094 norovirus outbreaks reported to the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) during 2009–2017 and used regression models to assess whether transmission varied by outbreak setting. The median R0 was 2.75 (interquartile range [IQR] 2.38–3.65), and median Re was 1.29 (IQR 1.12–1.74).

Author(s): M. Chassaing, N. Boudaud, G. Belliot, M. Estienney, D. Majou, A. de Rougemont, C. Gantzer

Monthly sampling was conducted at a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) in Southern Louisiana, USA from March 2017 to February 2018 to determine the prevalence and reduction efficiency of pathogenic and indicator viruses.

Author(s): Danlei Liu, Zilei Zhang, Shenwei Li, Qingping Wu, Peng Tian, Zilong Zhang, Dapeng Wang

Human noroviruses are enteric pathogens causing a substantial proportion of acute gastroenteritis cases worldwide, irrespective of background variables such as age, ethnicity or gender. Although person-to-person contact is the general route of transmission, foodborne infections are also common. Thorough cooking eliminates noroviruses, but several food products such as berries, leafy vegetables or mollusks undergo only limited heat treatment, if any, before consumption.

Detection of norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) on fruits and vegetables using current standard methodologies can be inefficient. Method optimisation focussing on ease, rapidity and increased viral RNA recovery is needed for efficient reverse transcription (RT)-qPCR detection of viruses.

by Pierrot Derjany, Sirish Namilae, Dahai Liu, Ashok Srinivasan

Author(s): Kevin Hunt, Bill Doré, Sinead Keaveney, Agnieszka Rupnik, Francis Butler

MICROBIOLOGY Correction for “Bile acids and ceramide overcome the entry restriction for GII.3 human norovirus replication in human intestinal enteroids,” by Kosuke Murakami, Victoria R. Tenge, Umesh C. Karandikar, Shih-Ching Lin, Sasirekha Ramani, Khalil Ettayebi, Sue E. Crawford, Xi-Lei Zeng, Frederick H. Neill, B. Vijayalakshmi Ayyar, Kazuhiko Katayama, David Y....

Edible films can be designed to serve as carriers of antimicrobial agents and be used to control pathogenic foodborne viruses and bacteria. This research tested this concept by dissolving green tea extract (GTE) in chitosan film-forming solutions (FFS) and using it to prepare dried chitosan edible films. As a control, the GTE was also dissolved in deionized water (DW).

Author(s): Andrew D. Younger, Anna Neish, David I. Walker, Kaitlyn L. Jenkins, James A. Lowther, Tina A. Stapleton, Mickael Teixeira Alves

by Chihong Song, Reiko Takai-Todaka, Motohiro Miki, Kei Haga, Akira Fujimoto, Ryoka Ishiyama, Kazuki Oikawa, Masaru Yokoyama, Naoyuki Miyazaki, Kenji Iwasaki, Kosuke Murakami, Kazuhiko Katayama, Kazuyoshi Murata

This study assessed wastewater quality through the quantification of four human enteric viruses and the applicability of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) as indicators of viral reduction during wastewater treatment. Thirty-three samples were collected from three steps of a wastewater treatment plant in Southern Louisiana, USA for a year between March 2017 and February 2018.

The molecular detection of Norovirus GI and Norovirus GII in the Tunisian industrial wastewater treatment plant of Charguia I was conducted to test the effectiveness of secondary biological treatment using the activated sludge procedure and the UV-C254 tertiary treatment radiation using a UV disinfection prototype to upgrade the quality of the purified wastewater. A total of 140 sewage samples were collected from the two lines of sewage treatment procedures.

Shellfish constitute an important protein source but may be contaminated by viruses from various origins. A study performed on clams collected in Cameroon showed a high prevalence of norovirus and hepatitis A virus. After sequencing, the hepatitis A virus showed similarities with the genotype V simian strains.

All RNA viruses encode the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) which replicates and transcribes viral RNA. This essential viral enzyme does not exist in mammalian cells, thus presents a main target for the development of antiviral drugs with potential pan-antiviral activity.

The Florida Complaint and Outbreak Reporting System (FL-CORS) database is used by the Florida Department of Health’s Food and Waterborne Disease Program (FWDP) as one of the tools to detect foodborne disease outbreaks. We present a descriptive and spatial network analysis of the FL-CORS data collected during 2015-2018.

Viruses, as obligate intracellular parasites, exploit cellular pathways and resources in a variety of fascinating ways. A striking example of this is the remodelling of intracellular membranes into specialized structures that support the replication of positive-sense ssRNA (+RNA) viruses infecting eukaryotes.

Hospital-acquired infections caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli are a global problem. Healthy people can carry ESBL-producing E. coli in their intestines; thus, E. coli from healthy people can potentially cause hospital-acquired infections. Therefore, the transmission routes of ESBL-producing E. coli from healthy persons should be determined.A foodborne outbreak of human norovirus GII (HuNoV) occurred at a restaurant in Shizuoka, Japan, in 2018. E.

Globally, norovirus is the most common gastroenteritis causing pathogen. Annually, norovirus causes 685 million cases of acute gastroenteritis and 200,000 deaths, worldwide. Recent evidence has suggested that norovirus can also be spread via aerosolization; however, an indoor generation source has yet to be determined. We optimized a sampling method for the collection of aerosolized norovirus using murine norovirus (MNV) as a surrogate.

Noroviruses (NoV) are responsible for many shellfish outbreaks. Purification processes may be applied to oysters before marketing to decrease potential fecal pollution. This step is rapidly highly effective in reducing Escherichia coli; nevertheless, the elimination of virus genomes has been described to be much slower. It is therefore important to identify (i) the purification conditions that optimize virus removal and (ii) the mechanism involved.

Author(s): Alejandro Molina-Chavarria, Leticia Félix-Valenzuela, Erika Silva-Campa, Verónica Mata-Haro