"Detection of Hepatitis A Virus in Fresh Vegetables and Irrigation Water: An Unseen Health Risk in Damanhur, Egypt"

Abstract

Background: It's no secret that the microbiological safety of our food and the environment we live in is important issue. With ever-increasing production and a global market driven by demand, there's a growing need for high-quality. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on important viral agents related to food/water contamination in both research and routine diagnostics. Food contaminated by hepatitis A virus (HAV) is responsible of the 2-7% of all HAV outbreaks worldwide. Aim:The purpose of the current study was to evaluate fresh vegetables and irrigation water. which in most cases contaminated with fecal material of both animal and human. RNA of HAV was detected by nested RT-PCR method. One hundred fresh vegetables and twelve irrigation water samples were collected (January-March 2022).Result: Our result showed contamination of HAV in 3/12 (25%) in irrigation water and 2positive samples were detected in vegetables (one sample lettuce collected from Aflaqa village and one lettuce sample collected from Zawayat Ghazal village) representing 2%. Conclusion:It may be concluded that fecal contaminated water is unsafe for irrigation because of the health risk associated with such practices, and continuous monitoring of vegetables and irrigation water is very important issue to protect human health and lower cost of medication resulted from consuming contaminated food. This research raises concerns about the presence of human hepatitis A virus in fresh vegetables, especially when it is consumed raw.