1. [Hepatitis A virus detection in shellfish from Tunisia by reverse transcription-nested PCR--investigation of a correlation between viral and bacterial contamination].
- Author
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Amri I, Hmaïed F, Loisy F, Lebeau B, Barkallah I, Saidi M, and Slim A
- Subjects
- Animals, DNA, Bacterial analysis, DNA, Viral analysis, Escherichia coli genetics, Escherichia coli isolation & purification, Hepatitis A virus genetics, Salmonella genetics, Salmonella isolation & purification, Tunisia, Bacteria isolation & purification, Food Microbiology methods, Hepatitis A virus isolation & purification, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Shellfish virology
- Abstract
Objectives: We aimed at evaluating the contamination by hepatitis A virus (HAV) of 54 shellfish samples collected from five Tunisian shellfish harvesting areas and finding a correlation between bacterial and viral contamination., Material and Methods: Fifty-four shellfish samples were analysed in our study. Two methods of viral extraction were evaluated by reverse transcription-nested PCR. The first one was based on elution by glycine solution and the second one used a beef extract solution. Bacteriological determination (Samonella and E. coli) was carried out for all shellfish samples., Results: Glycine extraction showed a higher detection rate of HAV compared to the saline beef extraction method. The hepatitis A virus was detected in 32 % of shellfish samples analysed. None of the samples revealed the presence of Samonella. From 17 samples positive for HAV, we found six samples showing a number of E. coli below the European legislation., Conclusion: An important HAV contamination was observed in our study. No correlation between bacterial and viral contamination was found., (Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2011
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