Foodborne Pathogens Across Different Food Matrices in Sicily (Southern Italy)

Overview

Journal Pathogens

Date 2024 Nov 27

PMID 39599551

Authors

Valeria Blanda

Ilenia Giacchino

Valeria Vaglica

Vanessa Milioto

Sergio Migliore

Santina Di Bella

Francesca Gucciardi

Carmelo Bongiorno

Giuseppina Chiarenza

Cinzia Cardamone

Isabella Mancuso

Maria Luisa Scatassa

Vincenza Cannella

Annalisa Guercio

Giuseppa Purpari

Francesca Grippi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Foodborne diseases result from the consumption of foods contaminated with pathogens or their toxins and represent a serious public health problem worldwide. This study aimed to assess the presence of Rotavirus (RoV), Adenovirus (AdV), Norovirus (NoV), Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E viruses (HAV and HEV, respectively), , and spp. across various food matrices in Sicily. The analysis concerned 504 samples, including mussels, farmed meat, game meat, vegetables and bulk milk. Following appropriate pre-treatment, acid nucleic extraction was carried out and amplification of pathogen nucleic acids was carried out by molecular methods. The mussels tested positive for NoVs (3/51, 5.9%) and farm meat resulted positive for (1/34, 2.9%). The game offal samples tested positive for HEV, which was detected in 17 out of 222 samples (7.7%), and (18/318, 5.7%) and spp. (2/318, 0.6%). The milk samples tested positive for (15/85, 17.6%), (2/85, 2.4%) and spp. (1/85, 1.2%). This study highlights the variability in the risk of contamination of different food matrices, confirming the importance of vigilance in the consumption of potentially contaminated food products.

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