First Report of Hepatitis E Virus in Shellfish in Southeast Italy

Applied Sciences

Valentina Terio¹  Elisabetta Suffredini²  Gaia Nobili³  MariaGrazia Basanisi³  Gianfranco La Bella³  Giovanna La Salandra³ 

[1] Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy;Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento di Sicurezza Alimentare, Nutrizione e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria-Laboratorio Nazionale di Riferimento per i Virus di Origine Alimentare, 00161 Rome, Italy;Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, 71121 Foggia, Italy;

关键词: hepatitis E virus;    shellfish;    food-borne;    risk assessment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/app11010043

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) represents one of the principal causative agents of hepatitis globally. Among the five HEV genotypes affecting humans, genotypes 3 and 4 are zoonotic and are the main source of hepatitis E in developed countries. HEV has been detected in several foods. The present work investigated the presence of this virus in shellfish sold at retail in the Apulia region of Italy. The presence of HEV RNA was assessed by real-time RT-PCR in 225 shellfish samples collected during 2018. Overall, two (0.89%) of these samples tested positive for HEV RNA. To our knowledge, this is the first notification of the detection of HEV in mussels sold at retail in the Apulia region. These data highlight the potential role of shellfish as a vehicle for the transmission of viral pathogens.

【 授权许可】

Unknown