Identification of enteric viruses in green vegetables from Córdoba, Argentina

PREZ, V.E.; MARTÍNEZ, L.C.; MASACHESSI, G.; FARÍAS, A.A.; GIORDANO, M.O.; BARRIL, P.A.; NATES, S.V.

Cape Town

Conferencia; 3rd International Conference on Global Food Security; 2017

Enteric viruses are particularly concerning due to their high spreading rate and high persistence in the environment, and they have been reported as a major cause of food-borne viral diseases associated with consumption of raw vegetables. The aim of this study was to evaluate the virological quality of green leafy vegetables which were cultivated in periurban farms in Córdoba, Argentina. During June-December 2012, a total of 19 green vegetables (such as lettuce, arugula, chicory and spinach) were collected from a wholesale market located 5 km from the city of Cordoba. The vegetable samples were subjected to virus elution and concentration by PEG precipitation followed by RT-PCR to assess the genome presence of rotavirus (RV), norovirus (NV), human astrovirus (HAstV), enterovirus (EV) and picobirnavirus (PBV) as well as inoculation in Hep-2 cell culture to monitor the occurrence of infective enterovirus (iEV). The overall viral detection was 100% (19/19), identifying at least one viral group by sample analyzed. The frequency of genome viral groups detection was: RV 5.3% (1/19), NV 58% (11/19), HAstV 31.6% (6/19), EV 21% (4/19), PBV 18.8% (3/19) and 15 of the samples were positive for iEV (79%). In 67% (10/15) of the positive viable enterovirus samples it was also detected the genome of at least one of the viral groups studied. These preliminary results provide the first data for Argentina, pointing out that green leafy vegetables may be contaminated with a broad range of enteric viruses. The presence of genomes and infective viral particles in foods that, in general, suffer no treatment before consumption suggests that green leafy vegetables can act as potential sources of enteric virus transmission. It would be necessary to carry out studies to analyze the virological quality of the irrigation waters as potential primary sources of viral contamination.