Research Publications (Food Safety)

Animal farming has intensified significantly in recent decades, with the emergence of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in industrialized nations. The congregation of susceptible animals in CAFOs can lead to heavy environmental contamination with pathogens, promoting the emergence of hyper-transmissible, and virulent pathogens.

Whole genome analysis was performed on 501 isolates obtained from a previous survey which recovered 139 positive environmental sponge samples (i.e., up to 4 isolates per sample) from a total of 719 samples collected at 40 standardized sites in 3 commercial apple packinghouse facilities (i.e., P1, P2, and P3) over 3 successive seasons in a single production year. After excluding duplicated isolates, the data from 156 isolates revealed the clonal diversity of L.

The effective elimination of Listeria monocytogenes through cleaning and sanitation is of great importance to the food processing industry. Specifically in fresh produce operations, the lack of a kill step requires effective cleaning and sanitation to mitigate the risk of cross-contamination from the environment. As facilities rely on sanitizers to control L.

With the rapid emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1, the increased resistance of Salmonella has attracted extensive attention. This study reports on 11 multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains harboring mcr-1 in China. They all presented resistance to colistin, and additionally, one that was isolated from a child’s stool sample was also resistant to ceftriaxone and azithromycin.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have more than 470 serotypes. The well-known STEC O157:H7 serotype is a leading cause of STEC infections in humans. However, the incidence of non-O157:H7 STEC serotypes associated with foodborne outbreaks and human infections has increased in recent years. Current detection and serotyping assays are focusing on O157 and top six (“Big six”) non-O157 STEC serogroups.

Author(s): Vangelis Soultanidis, Ioannis Papaspyros, Evangelos A. Voudrias, Konstantinos N. Moutsopoulos

Author(s): Banu Sezer, Emine Kübra Tayyarcan, Ismail Hakki Boyaci The physicochemical quality and the effectiveness of antimicrobial activity against Salmonella and phage stability of dip-coated strawberries were investigated in this study by using bacteriophage cocktail with four different biopolymers for a period of 5 day at +4°Ϲ.

Author(s): Mark Raguindin Limon

Author(s): Shuangchao Wang, Zhiyong Han, Jin Wang, Xiaosong He, Zhiqiang Zhou, Xinran Hu

Author(s): Yunge Liu, Yimin Zhang, Lixian Zhu, Lebao Niu, Xin Luo, Pengcheng Dong The development of the stationary-phase, low-pH-inducible acid tolerance response (ATR) in the Salmonella contaminant of beef during the processing arises food safety concerns, because it may evoke bacterial coping mechanisms against bactericidal insults and alter gene expression that contribute to pathogen virulence.

Author(s): Jing-Guo Xu, Hui-Xue Hu, Bei-Zhong Han, Jing-Yu Chen Foodborne pathogens tend to live in mixed-species biofilms with resident flora in the food industry, likely posing a higher risk of pathogen contamination due to the strong biofilm formation and disinfectant resistance.

The present study reports the effect of different seasons on polyphenol content and antioxidant potential of ethanolic, methanolic, ethyl acetate, and aqueous extracts of leaves, stems, and roots of Premna integrifolia. Ethyl acetate extract of leaves (EAEPI) collected in the rainy season showed potent antioxidant activity with highest total phenol (74.33 ± 2.26 µg/mg, gallic acid equivalent), and flavonoid (98.83 ± 0.26 µg/mg, rutin equivalent) content.

Traditional breeding techniques, applied incrementally over thousands of years, have yielded huge benefits in the characteristics of agricultural animals. This is a result of significant, measurable changes to the genomes of those animal species and breeds. Genome editing techniques may now be applied to achieve targeted DNA sequence alterations, with the potential to affect traits of interest to production of agricultural animals in just one generation.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of drought stress on cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) accumulation in Chromolaena odorata grown in an artificially contaminated nutrient solution for 15 days. Polyethylene glycol (5% PEG) was used as a drought stressor. The presence of PEG did not affect the chlorophyll content and photochemical efficiency, while drought stress induced by PEG caused a decrease in water content in the plant tissues.

Agriculture’s global challenge to feed an estimated 7.7 billion people is further exacerbated by less available cropland for production and rapidly changing climate patterns. Pesticides are often utilized to minimize crop losses due to pest infestations; however, problems arise when these chemicals are transported off production acreage, either by storm or irrigation events, and into nearby water bodies.

In routine surveillance for avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in the environments of live poultry markets (LPMs), certain samples were positive for AIVs type A while negative for subtypes (e.g., H5, H7, and H9). However, little attention has been paid to these unsubtyped AIVs samples.

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, Accepted Article.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article.

Background Listeriosis is caused by the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. It can present as a maternal–neonatal infection. We implemented a nationwide prospective cohort and analyzed the features of neonatal listeriosis. Methods We studied all neonates born alive from mothers with microbiologically proven maternal–neonatal listeriosis enrolled from November 2009 to December 2017.

Background The emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum parasites that lack HRP2/3 proteins and the resulting decreased utility of HRP2-based malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) prompted the World Health Organization and other global health stakeholders to prioritize the discovery of novel diagnostic biomarkers for malaria.

Background In the United States, norovirus is the leading cause of healthcare-associated gastroenteritis outbreaks. To inform prevention efforts, we describe the epidemiology of norovirus outbreaks in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Methods The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collect epidemiologic and laboratory data on norovirus outbreaks from US health departments through the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) and CaliciNet.

Author(s): Ke Du, Xi Zheng, Junya Lv, Xin Zhong, Minjie Wei, Mingyan Liu

Author(s): Jessica Audrey Feijó Corrêa, Tiago de Melo Nazareth, Giuseppe Meca, Fernando Bittencourt Luciano

Author(s): Jack Burnett, Sophie Tongyu Wu, Maxwell Voorn, Christopher Jordan, Clyde S. Manuel, Manpreet Singh, Haley F. Oliver

Author(s): John G. Bruno A simpler visible colorimetric and less expensive syringe enzymatic filter-based assay (SEFA) utilizing proven anti-Salmonella DNA aptamers is described which is based on a similar previously published fluorometric version of SEFA with larger filter units.