Potential Risk of Norovirus Infection Due to the Consumption of “Ready to Eat” Food

In this study, we investigated the presence of enteric viruses such as norovirus (NoV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), and adenovirus (HAdV), in vegetables available on the Italian markets. For this aim, 110 national and international “ready to eat” samples were collected and anal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food and environmental virology 2012-09, Vol.4 (3), p.89-92
Main Authors: Laura, Serracca, Irene, Rossini, Roberta, Battistini, Maria, Goria, Serena, Sant, Gabriella, De Montis, Carlo, Ercolini
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Chemistry/Food Science
Consumer Product Safety
Fast Foods - virology
Food Contamination - analysis
Food Handling
Food Microbiology
Food Science
Hepatitis A virus - isolation & purification
Hepatitis E virus - isolation & purification
Humans
Italy
Lycopersicon esculentum - virology
Norovirus - isolation & purification
Original Paper
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Risk Factors
Virology
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Summary:In this study, we investigated the presence of enteric viruses such as norovirus (NoV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), and adenovirus (HAdV), in vegetables available on the Italian markets. For this aim, 110 national and international “ready to eat” samples were collected and analyzed by biomolecular tests and positive samples were confirmed by sequencing. All samples (100 %) were negative for HAV, HEV, and HAdV, while 13.6 % (15/110) were positive for NoV. Actually there is not a formal surveillance system for NoV infections in Italy but we clearly demonstrated a potential risk associated with the consumption of “ready to eat” vegetables. This study confirmed for the first time in Italy the presence of norovirus in semi-dried tomatoes by PCR technique.
ISSN:1867-0334
1867-0342
DOI:10.1007/s12560-012-9081-1