María Laura Arias Echandi, Alejandra Huete Soto, Jose Manuel Castillo Blanco, Fernanda Fernández, Heriberto Fernandez Jaramillo
{"title":"Occurrence of <i>Aliarcobacter</i> spp. in fresh and pre-cut vegetables of common use in San José, Costa Rica","authors":"María Laura Arias Echandi, Alejandra Huete Soto, Jose Manuel Castillo Blanco, Fernanda Fernández, Heriberto Fernandez Jaramillo","doi":"10.4081/ijfs.2023.10344","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Aliarcobacter is a Gram-negative rod that can cause disease in both animals and humans. Several studies have evidenced its presence in a wide variety of foods. Given that the number of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to the consumption of vegetables has increased worldwide and that there is a lack of information about the occurrence of Aliarcobacter spp. in these, the aim of this study was to evaluate its presence and the occurrence of virulence factors in both fresh and ready-to-eat vegetable samples. 180 vegetable samples from Costa Rica were analyzed for the presence of Aliarcobacter spp., including 90 pre-cut vegetable packages and 90 fresh vegetables. Two (2.2%) of the isolates from pre-cut vegetables and 19 (21.1%) of the isolates obtained from fresh vegetables were confirmed as Aliarcobacter spp. One of the isolates from the pre-cut vegetable samples was identified as A. butzleri. For the fresh vegetables, 11 isolates were identified as A. skirrowii, one as A. butzleri, and the 7 remaining isolates could not be identified at a species level. There is an 87.5% positivity for hecA and 93.8% for pldA, virulence genes in strains isolated from fresh produce, contrasting with an absolute absence from pre-cut vegetable-isolated strains. These results evidence the presence of Aliarcobacter on fresh and pre-cut vegetables from Costa Rica and the potential hazard it might represent for public health.","PeriodicalId":14508,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Food Safety","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Italian Journal of Food Safety","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ijfs.2023.10344","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aliarcobacter is a Gram-negative rod that can cause disease in both animals and humans. Several studies have evidenced its presence in a wide variety of foods. Given that the number of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to the consumption of vegetables has increased worldwide and that there is a lack of information about the occurrence of Aliarcobacter spp. in these, the aim of this study was to evaluate its presence and the occurrence of virulence factors in both fresh and ready-to-eat vegetable samples. 180 vegetable samples from Costa Rica were analyzed for the presence of Aliarcobacter spp., including 90 pre-cut vegetable packages and 90 fresh vegetables. Two (2.2%) of the isolates from pre-cut vegetables and 19 (21.1%) of the isolates obtained from fresh vegetables were confirmed as Aliarcobacter spp. One of the isolates from the pre-cut vegetable samples was identified as A. butzleri. For the fresh vegetables, 11 isolates were identified as A. skirrowii, one as A. butzleri, and the 7 remaining isolates could not be identified at a species level. There is an 87.5% positivity for hecA and 93.8% for pldA, virulence genes in strains isolated from fresh produce, contrasting with an absolute absence from pre-cut vegetable-isolated strains. These results evidence the presence of Aliarcobacter on fresh and pre-cut vegetables from Costa Rica and the potential hazard it might represent for public health.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Food Safety (IJFS) is the official journal of the Italian Association of Veterinary Food Hygienists (AIVI). The Journal addresses veterinary food hygienists, specialists in the food industry and experts offering technical support and advice on food of animal origin. The Journal of Food Safety publishes original research papers concerning food safety and hygiene, animal health, zoonoses and food safety, food safety economics. Reviews, editorials, technical reports, brief notes, conference proceedings, letters to the Editor, book reviews are also welcome. Every article published in the Journal will be peer-reviewed by experts in the field and selected by members of the editorial board. The publication of manuscripts is subject to the approval of the Editor who has knowledge of the field discussed in the manuscript in accordance with the principles of Peer Review; referees will be selected from the Editorial Board or among qualified scientists of the international scientific community. Articles must be written in English and must adhere to the guidelines and details contained in the Instructions to Authors.