Research Publications (Food Safety)

Salmonella Dublin is a bovine‐adapted bacterial pathogen that primarily affects dairy cattle. The incidence of S. Dublin has been increasing across North America, including strains that are multidrug resistant. In British Columbia, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Health Center (AHC) reported an increase in cases since 2015, warranting an investigation into how S. Dublin is spreading within the province.

Border disease virus (BDV), a member of the Pestivirus genus within the Flaviviridae family, is known to inflict significant economic losses on livestock farms due to its association with reproductive disorders and persistent infections in sheep and goats. However, comprehensive epidemiological investigations of BDV in China are scarce.

The continued worldwide increase in pet ownership has significantly boosted the growth of the pet food industry accompanied by new food safety risks and challenges. This study was designed to determine the occurrence and molecularly characterize multidrug‐resistant (MDR) Enterobacterales in pet food. Eighty‐six (86) packages of dry and wet pet food purchased in different retail stores were screened for carbapenem‐resistant Enterobacterales (CRE).

In December 2021, a wildlife conservation base in Hunan, China, reported illness and death among its captive Myocastor coypus population. A gram‐positive pathogen was isolated from the affected animals. The 16S rDNA sequence of the isolated strain was approximately 1,500 bp long and exhibited 98.4% homogeneity with Staphylococcus cohnii found in sea cucumbers. Interestingly, the biochemical reactions of the isolated strain were consistent with the characteristics of S. cohnii.

Atlantic menhaden are a highly migratory marine species in the Eastern United States that suffer from seasonal chronic mortality. Affected fish show neurologic signs referred to as spinning disease, including circling at the surface and erratic corkscrew swimming before death. We investigated three similar menhaden mortality events consistent with spinning disease in coastal New Jersey and New York between 2020 and 2021 to understand the cause.

Salmonellosis is one of the important bacterial infectious diseases affecting the health of pigeons. Heretofore, the epidemiological characteristics of Salmonella in pigeon populations in China remain largely unclear. The present study investigated the antimicrobial resistance and genomic characteristics of Salmonella isolates in pigeons in different regions of China from 2022 to 2023.

Giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic protozoan parasite that causes gastrointestinal illness in humans and livestock. We studied the genetic diversity of G. duodenalis in children and calves from Bangladesh to determine its zoonotic potential. Fecal samples collected from children (299) and calves (699) were screened with nested PCR with primers targeting the ssu rRNA gene for G. duodenalis.

Livestock‐Associated Methicillin‐ResistantStaphylococcus aureus (LA‐MRSA) strains of clonal complex (CC) 398 are widely disseminated in pigs and are considered emerging pathogens in human medicine. To investigate the prevalence, genetic characteristics, and zoonotic potential of the pathogen in pig production settings, dust samples were collected from 40 pig operations in Hungary, along with nasal swabs of attending veterinarians and other swine professionals (n = 27) in 2019.

Outbreaks of hepatitis‐hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) caused by fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV‐4) and inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) related to FAdV‐8b and FAdV‐11 have been increased in chickens in China since 2015. Clinical concurrent infections of FAdV‐4, FAdV‐8b, and FAdV‐11 are quite common, yet there are no commercially available trivalent vaccines against infection by these three serotypes.

Bushpigs (Potamochoerus larvatus) play a major role in the socio‐ecosystem of Madagascar, particularly in rural areas. They are largely hunted by rural populations as a major source of income and protein. They can also represent a potential source of pathogens for domestic animals and people. For example, it is hypothesized that bushpigs might compromise African swine fever (ASF) eradication programs by sporadically transmitting the virus to domestic pigs.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen in Europe. Even though swine species are considered the main host of the zoonotic HEV‐3 genotype, rabbits are recognized as the main reservoir of the divergent HEV‐3ra subtype. However, the role of wild lagomorphs in the epidemiology of this virus in Mediterranean ecosystems is under debate.

Novel duck orthoreovirus can infect various hosts, mainly causing spleen necrosis and hemorrhagic necrotizing hepatitis, leading to immunosuppression and growth impairment. Infectious diseases characterized by swollen hock joints, movement disorders, and impaired growths have recently occurred in significant duck breeding areas in China. Infected ducks from Shandong Province were selected, and N‐DRV‐LY20 was isolated from the swollen joints.

Bovine kobuvirus (BKV) is an infectious agent associated with neonatal calf diarrhoea (NCD), causing important economic losses to dairy and beef cattle herds worldwide. Here, we present the detection rate and characterize the genome of BKV isolated from diarrhoeic calves from a Central Italy herd. From January to December 2021, we collected blood samples and nasal and rectal swabs from 66 calves with severe NCD between 3 and 20 days of age.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an important human pathogen and, in developed countries, most human infections are due to a zoonotic cycle, mainly maintained by domestic and wild suids. In European countries several genotype 3 strains have been found to circulate in human population and animal reservoirs, with human infections being related mostly to pork or wild boar meat consumption.

Enteric protozoan parasites Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and, to a lesser extent, the ciliate Balantioides coli are responsible for severe human and animal intestinal disorders globally. However, limited information is available on the occurrence and epidemiology of these parasites in domestic, but especially wild species in Portugal. To fill this gap of knowledge, we have investigated G. duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and B.

The presence of pathogenic bacteria in organic feed and food is a topic of current subject of study due to concerns that certain organic practices may heighten the risk of contamination and contribute to the spread of foodborne pathogens. The primary objective of this research is to analyze the main microbial contaminants exclusively associated with organic products, as reported in the literature.

In high‐income countries, the hepatitis E virus (HEV) is considered an emerging threat causing autochthonous acute hepatitis in humans, with an increased number of reported cases over the last 10 years and related increased burden of chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised and transplant patients. Pigs are the main reservoir of the HEV‐3 genotype, which is the most common in Europe, and can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of raw and undercooked pork products.

Abstract Wild rats can host various zoonotic pathogens. Detection of these pathogens is commonly performed using molecular techniques targeting one or a few specific pathogens. However, this specific way of surveillance could lead to (emerging) zoonotic pathogens staying unnoticed. This problem may be overcome by using broader microbiome‐profiling techniques, which enable broad screening of a sample's bacterial or viral composition.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article. The Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite which significantly impact small ruminant productivity, international animal trade and transboundary movement of animal across the globe. The seroprevalence of T.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 5, Page 2544-2558, September 2022. Poultry and poultry-derived products such as meat and eggs are among the main sources of non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) transmission to humans.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 5, Page 2412-2423, September 2022. Oocyst shedding in domestic and wild felids is a critical yet understudied topic in Toxoplasma gondii ecology and epidemiology that shapes human and animal disease burden.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Volume 69, Issue 5, Page 2440-2450, September 2022. Toxoplasma gondii was initially classified in three main lineages related to its virulence: Types I, II, and III. The recombination of genes during sexual cycle in felids gut led to more than 200 genotypes, found in ToxoDB database, using 11 RFLP markers. Free-range chickens are good bioindicators of soil contamination with T. gondii oocysts.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article. Toxoplasmosis is an emerging and re-emerging infectious disease that can be transmitted through a contaminated environment. Environmental contamination is an emergency health issue and determining its occurrence is fundamental to a One Health approach. In this study we addressed the extent of environmental contamination and viability of T.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article. Hepatitis E virus (HEV, family Hepeviridae) is an important emerging and zoonotic pathogen. In recent decades, the number of human cases of zoonotic hepatitis E has increased considerably in industrialized countries and HEV has been detected in an expanding range of mammal species.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article. Infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV) is common in both developing and industrialized nations. Genotypes 3 and 4 are increasingly being reported, particularly in high-income countries where the precise extent of HEV transmission via food is currently unclear.