Globalization has increased the risk for infectious foodborne diseases due to the international trade of food products, including bivalve molluscs. In the process of filtering, molluscs concentrate and retain viruses and,... [ view full abstract ]
Globalization has increased the risk for infectious foodborne diseases due to the international trade of food products, including bivalve molluscs. In the process of filtering, molluscs concentrate and retain viruses and, therefore, shellfish imports from developing countries where these pathogens are endemic, can be a vehicle for viral gastroenteritis.
In recent years, novel enteric viruses have emerged as responsible for food-borne outbreaks associated with this type of food. The aim of this study was the detection and quantification of Sapovirus (SaV) and Aichi virus (AiV) from shellfish samples imported to Spain.
A total of 54 shellfish samples from Morocco, Perú, Vietnam, South Korea and from a street food vendors in Melilla were analysed using Reverse Transcription-Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Samples were obtained between 2006 and 2011. The species studied were clams (Callista chione, Transanella pannosa, and Donax sp.), oysters (Crassostrea angulata), scallop (Pecten maximus), cockles (Cerastoderma edule), and razor clams (Solen marginatus and Ensis sp.).
SaV was detected in 29 samples (53%), 12 from Morocco, 11 from Perú, 2 from Vietnam, 1 from South Korea, and 3 from Melilla, whereas AiV was detected in 18 samples (33.3%), 12 from Morocco, 3 from Perú, 1 from Vietnam, 1 from South Korea, and 1 from Melilla. Ten of these samples were positive for the two viruses. Results obtained indicate the potential transmission of emerging pathogens, for which no routine analysis is implemented by the Spanish System of Epidemiologic Surveillance or the European Community Rapid Alert System for Foodstuffs, through imports of bivalve molluscs.
