Prevalence of Foodborne Viruses in Mussels in Southern Italy

• Published in: Food and environmental virology Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 187 - 194
• Main Authors: Fusco, Giovanna, Di Bartolo, Ilaria, Cioffi, Barbara, Ianiro, Giovanni, Palermo, Pierpaolo, Monini, Marina, Amoroso, Maria Grazia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Astroviridae; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Bivalvia - virology; Chemistry/Food Science; Contamination; Food Contamination - analysis; Food Science; Foodborne Diseases - virology; Foodborne pathogens; Harvesting; Hepatitis; Hepatitis A; Hepatovirus; Humans; Italy; Mollusks; Mussels; Mytilus galloprovincialis; Norovirus; Original Paper; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Reverse transcription; RNA, Viral - genetics; Rotavirus; Shellfish - virology; Virology; Viruses; Viruses - classification; Viruses - genetics; Viruses - isolation & purification; Italy; Aichivirus; Hepatitis; Astrovirus; Norovirus; Rotavirus; Mussels; Sapovirus; Real-Time RT-PCR
• ISSN: 1867-0334; 1867-0342
• DOI: 10.1007/s12560-016-9277-x

In this study, the prevalence of various enteric viruses in Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mediterranean mussel) belonging to class A and class B mollusc-harvesting areas in the Campania region in southern Italy was evaluated. One hundred and eight mussels were analysed using real-time reverse transcription PCR during a 2-year collection period (2014–2015) to detect the following viruses: human norovirus (genogroups I and II), rotavirus, astrovirus, sapovirus, aichivirus, hepatitis A virus and hepatitis E virus. Overall, 50.93% of mussels were contaminated by at least one of the tested viruses. Of these virus-positive mussels, 63.63% were contaminated by two or more viruses. In 2014, only three of the eight investigated viruses were detected: astrovirus, sapovirus and aichivirus, whereas in 2015, seven of the eight viruses were detected (only hepatitis E virus was not identified). Astrovirus was the most frequently detected virus in both sampling periods. In 2014, sapovirus was detected at the same frequency as astrovirus (16.00%), followed by aichivirus (8%). In 2015, astrovirus (32.53%) was most frequently detected, followed by norovirus GII (26.50%), sapovirus (18.07%), hepatitis A virus (16.87%), rotavirus (16.87%), aichivirus (13.25%) and norovirus GI (12.05%).This study describes, for the first time, the presence of aichivirus and sapovirus in mussels in Italy.