Detection of Torque Teno Sus Virus in Pork Bile and Liver Sausages.
Torque teno viruses (TTV) are small DNA viruses widespread among humans and pigs. The clinical significance of TTV infections in either humans or pigs is uncertain. In fact, TTV viremia is highly prevalent in patients with different pathologies, but it can also be frequently observed in healthy subjects. Virus infection in pigs is considered a putative cofactor in several diseases; despite being detected frequently in healthy animals, its role still remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of Torque teno sus virus (TTSuV) in 62 bile samples collected from pigs at slaughterhouse and in 36 fresh pork liver sausages bought at point of sale. Quantitative Real-Time PCR, confirmed that 19.4 and 58.3 % of bile and sausage samples tested positive for TTSuV, respectively. The mean viral load was established as 5.6 × 104GE/µl for bile and 7.16 × 103GE/g for sausages. TTSuV nucleotide sequence analysis confirmed a wide heterogeneity among the circulating TTSuV strains, which included both TTSuV1 and TTSuV2.
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
Marina
M
Monini
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
Edoardo
E
Vignolo
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
Giovanni
G
Ianiro
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064, Ozzano dell'Emilia, BO, Italy.
Fabio
F
Ostanello
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
Franco Maria
FM
Ruggeri
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy. ilaria.dibartolo@iss.it.
Ilaria
I
Di Bartolo
D000818:Animals; D001646:Bile / Q000821:virology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000821:virology*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
Bile; Quantitative Real-Time PCR; Sausage; Swine; Torque teno sus virus