Selected Viruses Detected on and in our Food

Abstract

Purpose of Review The purpose of this review is to provide an update on recent literature and findings concerning selected foodborne viruses. Two groups of viruses were selected: (a) the most important viruses contaminating food, based on numbers of publications in the last 5 years and (b) viruses infecting sources of food that might have an impact on human health. Recent Findings Important foodborne viruses such as norovirus, hepatitis A and rotavirus are usually "only" contaminating food and are detected on the surface of foodstuffs. However, they are threats to human public health and make up for the majority of cases. In contrast, the meaning of viruses born from within the food such as natural animal and plant viruses is still in many cases unknown. An exception is Hepatitis E virus that is endemic in pigs, transmitted via pork meat and is recognised as an emerging zoonosis in industrialised countries. Summary Even though the clinical meaning of "new" foodborne viruses, often detected by next generation sequencing, still needs clarification, the method has great potential to enhance surveillance and detection particularly in view of an increasingly globalised food trade.

Real-time Sensing of Trace Biomarkers from Viruses with a Microfluidic Immunosensor: A Case Study of SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Cold-chain Food

“…More typical examples have been showing their destructive power, such as large outbreaks of hepatitis A [2,3] and norovirus infection [4,5]. As expected, these viruses are detected in various foods as well as waters [1,6,7], which exacerbates the spread of the disease. Therefore, the viral contamination detection in food poses a more great challenge in recent decade [8].…”

“…The contamination of pathogens in food and environment has always been a serious problem worldwide for food safety, entry-exit quarantine, epidemic prevention and public health management. Although viral epidemics are less reported for food safety compared with bacteria [1], their transmissibility is not weak at all. More typical examples have been showing their destructive power, such as large outbreaks of hepatitis A [2,3] and norovirus infection [4,5].…”

Seafood associated human pathogenic non-enveloped viruses

“…Norovirus is a small organized RNA virus, and a class known as human pathogens belong to the family Caliciviridae. Virus particles are 27-37 nm in diameter and unwrapped, which cause their high tenacity and disinfection resistance (Bachofen, 2018). The NoV genome of approximately 7.5 kb is positive-sense single-stranded RNA with three free read frames encoding both structural and non-structural proteins (Campos and Lee, 2014).…”

“…The viral protein 1, the capsid protein, is the viral capsid's most significant component, while the viral protein 2 is inserted within the capsid at low copy numbers (Figure 1). Norovirus (NoV) is well-known to be the primary causative agent of seafood transmitted illness (Bachofen, 2018;Grabow,2007;Li et al, 2014;Terregino and Arcangeli, 2017) and the emergence in viral gastroenteritis outbreaks is a global safety issue which is also blamed for economic losses (Kobayashi et al, 2019;Pavoni et al, 2013). Several geographic areas worldwide have been confirmed to have numerous seafood associated outbreaks of various norovirus strains (Stals et al, 2013;Vidal et al, 2005).…”

Key characteristics of foods with an elevated risk for viral enteropathogen contamination

“…There are two factors unique to enteric viruses that make determining the actual burden due to specific pathogens difficult—similarity of symptoms and subclinical cases (Bachofen ; Shukla et al . ).…”