The evaluation of Avian Influenza and Coronavirus as Human Pathogenic Enveloped Viruses for Possible Health Risk in Seafood: A Review

Abstract

Human pathogenic viruses in seafood are a significant and emerging problem for public health, food safety, and socio-economic implications worldwide. They may exist in any form of untreated water due to pollution induced by fecal content of human or animal origin, directly infected through interaction with body secretions and fluids containing contagious viral particles, or indirectly by aerosols or other polluted fomites. Thus, human pathogenic viruses can cause infection anytime by transmitting them from water and food environments to seafood and its products. Nowadays, people go through an unprecedented, huge challenge and global health disaster around the world because of the severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak. Non-enveloped viruses are commonly known to have more stable and can survive much longer than viruses with an envelope tag. However, some studies show that some enveloped viruses such as avian influenza can be accumulated by seafood and can survive at low temperature for a long time. Low temperature preservation of seafood during processing, storage, transfer, distribution and display in retail stores are common methods to prevent the loss of quality and survival of the SARS-CoV-2 may be enough time to have all transmission routes at these low temperatures like other viruses. However, there have been no cases of COVID-19 infection identified through either water-borne or food-borne transmission since the beginning of the pandemic (almost a year). It seems that the main way of virus transmission is mostly person to person through respiratory droplets. So, it is thought to be that the risk of getting COVID-19 from seafood is very low and it can safely consume with proper cooking and hygiene protocol.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Seafood Safety and Human Health

“…However, seafood trade-related activities were reduced during the pandemic ( Stoll et al, 2021 ). Several earlier reports on coronavirus have been reported to be stable at ambient and frozen temperature, increasing the associated risks ( Tokur and Korkmaz, 2021 ). Also, the high stability of SARS-CoV-2 for extended periods (2 weeks) at chilled and frozen temperature conditions have been confirmed ( World Health Organization, 2020 ).…”