title: Assessment of human enteric viruses in shellfish from the northern Adriatic sea.
abstract: Incidence and circulation of different strains of hepatitis A and Norovirus in shellfish were studied on 235 samples (Tapes philippinarum, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Ostrea spp. and Chlamys spp.) obtained from different sites, representing the shellfish production areas of the northern Adriatic sea. Shellfish were harvested in the period of one year and, after depuration, were examined for bacterial (Escherichia coli and Salmonella) and viral (HAV and NoV) contamination. Viral contamination was present on average in 22% of samples: specifically, 6% of samples tested positive for HAV, 14% for NoV and 2% for both viruses. None of the samples revealed the presence of Salmonella, and in most of them (93%) the number of E. coli was below the European legislation limit of 230 MPN/100 g. T. philippinarum was the species most often contaminated, as well as being the only species in which the legal limit for E. coli was, in some cases, exceeded. Both HAV and NoV contamination were detected throughout the year; NoV detection was slightly more frequent during winter months, but positive samples were also present in summer. The sequencing of the PCR products showed the circulation of only one HAV genotype (IA) and four different NoV genotypes (Hawaii, Melksham, Lordsdale and GGIIb) with a prevalence of the GGIIb genotype in the second period of the monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Centro Nazionale per la Qualità degli Alimenti e per i Rischi Alimentari, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Roma, Italy. luciana.croci@iss.it
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Croci
authors.forename: Marina Nadia
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Losio
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Suffredini
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pavoni
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Pasquale
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fallacara
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcangeli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005838:Genotype; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D029322:Norovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012621:Seasons; D012758:Shellfish / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014871:Water Microbiology