Dataset Information

First respiratory transmitted food borne outbreak?

ABSTRACT: The world is faced with a remarkable coronavirus outbreak with epicentre in Wuhan, China. Altogether 40554 cases have been confirmed globally with novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) until February 10, 2020. Rigorous surveillance in other countries is required to prevent further global expansion of the outbreak, but resolving the exact mechanism of the initial transmission events is crucial. Most initial cases had visited Huanan South Seafood Market in Wuhan selling also various exotic live animals. Based on the limited initial human-to-human transmission and timely clustering of cases in Huanan market among elderly men, coupled with knowledge that coronaviruses are derived from animals and relationship of SARS-CoV-2 to bat coronavirus, zoonotic transmission in the first instance is probable. To target the actions, similar epidemiological actions to human cases are needed with animal or food exposures. According to current information, an exceptionally wide contamination of seafood market might explain the initiation of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Seafood tanks, air contamination by live animals or rodents are possibilities, but sold animals normally come from various sources. The mode of transmission may become clearer in future: usually in outbreak investigations, hindsight is easy, but for now information about the initial source of this outbreak is limited.

SUBMITTER: Jalava K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7129563 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

First respiratory transmitted food borne outbreak?

Jalava Katri K

International journal of hygiene and environmental health 20200220

The world is faced with a remarkable coronavirus outbreak with epicentre in Wuhan, China. Altogether 40554 cases have been confirmed globally with novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) until February 10, 2020. Rigorous surveillance in other countries is required to prevent further global expansion of the outbreak, but resolving the exact mechanism of the initial transmission events is crucial. Most initial cases had visited Huanan South Seafood Market in Wuhan selling also various exotic live animals. ...[more]

PMID: 32088598

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND: Norovirus is often transmitted from person-to-person. Transmission may also be food-borne, but only few norovirus outbreak investigations have identified food items as likely vehicles of norovirus transmission through an analytical epidemiological study.During 7-9 January, 2009, 36 persons at a military base in Germany fell ill with acute gastroenteritis. Food from the military base's canteen was suspected as vehicle of infection, norovirus as the pathogen causing the illnesses. An investigation was initiated to describe the outbreak's extent, to verify the pathogen, and to identify modes of transmission and source of infection to prevent further cases. METHODS: For descriptive analysis, ill persons were defined as members of the military base with acute onset of diarrhoea or vomiting between 24 December 2008, and 3 February 2009, without detection of a pathogen other than norovirus in stools. We conducted a retrospective cohort study within the headquarters company. Cases were military base members with onset of diarrhoea or vomiting during 5-9 January. We collected information on demographics, food items eaten at the canteen and contact to ill persons or vomit, using a self-administered questionnaire. We compared attack rates (AR) in exposed and unexposed persons, using bivariable and multivariable logistic regression modelling. Stool specimens of ill persons and canteen employees, canteen food served during 5-7 January and environmental swabs were investigated by laboratory analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 101/815 (AR 12.4%) persons fell ill between 24 December 2008 and 3 February 2009. None were canteen employees. Most persons (n = 49) had disease onset during 7-9 January. Ill persons were a median of 22 years old, 92.9% were male. The response for the cohort study was 178/274 (72.1%). Of 27 cases (AR 15.2%), 25 had eaten at the canteen and 21 had consumed salad. Salad consumption on 6 January (aOR: 8.1; 95%CI: 1.5-45.4) and 7 January (aOR: 15.7; 95%CI: 2.2-74.1) were independently associated with increased risk of disease.Norovirus was detected in 8/28 ill persons' and 4/25 canteen employees' stools, 6/55 environmental swabs and 0/33 food items. Sequences were identical in environmental and stool samples (subtype II.4 2006b), except for those of canteen employees. Control measures comprised cohort isolation of symptomatic persons, exclusion of norovirus-positive canteen employees from work and disinfection of the canteen's kitchen. CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation indicated that consumption of norovirus-contaminated salad caused the peak of the outbreak on 7-9 January. Strict personal hygiene and proper disinfection of environmental surfaces remain crucial to prevent norovirus transmission.

Project description:This Opinion considers the application of whole genome sequencing (WGS) and metagenomics for outbreak investigation, source attribution and risk assessment of food-borne pathogens. WGS offers the highest level of bacterial strain discrimination for food-borne outbreak investigation and source-attribution as well as potential for more precise hazard identification, thereby facilitating more targeted risk assessment and risk management. WGS improves linking of sporadic cases associated with different food products and geographical regions to a point source outbreak and can facilitate epidemiological investigations, allowing also the use of previously sequenced genomes. Source attribution may be favoured by improved identification of transmission pathways, through the integration of spatial-temporal factors and the detection of multidirectional transmission and pathogen-host interactions. Metagenomics has potential, especially in relation to the detection and characterisation of non-culturable, difficult-to-culture or slow-growing microorganisms, for tracking of hazard-related genetic determinants and the dynamic evaluation of the composition and functionality of complex microbial communities. A SWOT analysis is provided on the use of WGS and metagenomics for Salmonella and Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serotyping and the identification of antimicrobial resistance determinants in bacteria. Close agreement between phenotypic and WGS-based genotyping data has been observed. WGS provides additional information on the nature and localisation of antimicrobial resistance determinants and on their dissemination potential by horizontal gene transfer, as well as on genes relating to virulence and biological fitness. Interoperable data will play a major role in the future use of WGS and metagenomic data. Capacity building based on harmonised, quality controlled operational systems within European laboratories and worldwide is essential for the investigation of cross-border outbreaks and for the development of international standardised risk assessments of food-borne microorganisms.

Project description:Food-borne outbreak investigation currently relies on the time-consuming and challenging bacterial isolation from food, to be able to link food-derived strains to more easily obtained isolates from infected people. When no food isolate can be obtained, the source of the outbreak cannot be unambiguously determined. Shotgun metagenomics approaches applied to the food samples could circumvent this need for isolation from the suspected source, but require downstream strain-level data analysis to be able to accurately link to the human isolate. Until now, this approach has not yet been applied outside research settings to analyse real food-borne outbreak samples. In September 2019, a Salmonella outbreak occurred in a hotel school in Bruges, Belgium, affecting over 200 students and teachers. Following standard procedures, the Belgian National Reference Center for human salmonellosis and the National Reference Laboratory for Salmonella in food and feed used conventional analysis based on isolation, serotyping and MLVA (multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis) comparison, followed by whole-genome sequencing, to confirm the source of the contamination over 2 weeks after receipt of the sample, which was freshly prepared tartar sauce in a meal cooked at the school. Our team used this outbreak as a case study to deliver a proof of concept for a short-read strain-level shotgun metagenomics approach for source tracking. We received two suspect food samples: the full meal and some freshly made tartar sauce served with this meal, requiring the use of raw eggs. After analysis, we could prove, without isolation, that Salmonella was present in both samples, and we obtained an inferred genome of a Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis that could be linked back to the human isolates of the outbreak in a phylogenetic tree. These metagenomics-derived outbreak strains were separated from sporadic cases as well as from another outbreak circulating in Europe at the same time period. This is, to our knowledge, the first Salmonella food-borne outbreak investigation uniquely linking the food source using a metagenomics approach and this in a fast time frame.

Project description:Food-borne pathogens are ongoing problems, and new pathogens are emerging. The impact of fungi, however, is largely underestimated. Recently, commercial yogurts contaminated with Mucor circinelloides were sold, and >200 consumers became ill with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Mucoralean fungi cause the fatal fungal infection mucormycosis, whose incidence has been continuously increasing. In this study, we isolated an M. circinelloides strain from a yogurt container, and multilocus sequence typing identified the strain as Mucor circinelloides f. circinelloides. M. circinelloides f. circinelloides is the most virulent M. circinelloides subspecies and is commonly associated with human infections, whereas M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus and M. circinelloides f. griseocyanus are less common causes of infection. Whole-genome analysis of the yogurt isolate confirmed it as being close to the M. circinelloides f. circinelloides subgroup, with a higher percentage of divergence with the M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus subgroup. In mating assays, the yogurt isolate formed sexual zygospores with the (-) M. circinelloides f. circinelloides tester strain, which is congruent with its sex locus encoding SexP, the (+) mating type sex determinant. The yogurt isolate was virulent in murine and wax moth larva host systems. In a murine gastromucormycosis model, Mucor was recovered from fecal samples of infected mice for up to 10 days, indicating that Mucor can survive transit through the GI tract. In interactions with human immune cells, M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus induced proinflammatory cytokines but M. circinelloides f. circinelloides did not, which may explain the different levels of virulence in mammalian hosts. This study demonstrates that M. circinelloides can spoil food products and cause gastrointestinal illness in consumers and may pose a particular risk to immunocompromised patients. Importance: The U.S. FDA reported that yogurt products were contaminated with M. circinelloides, a mucoralean fungal pathogen, and >200 consumers complained of symptoms, including vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. The manufacturer voluntarily withdrew the affected yogurt products from the market. Compared to other food-borne pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, less focus has been placed on the risk of fungal pathogens. This study evaluates the potential risk from the food-borne fungal pathogen M. circinelloides that was isolated from the contaminated commercial yogurt. We successfully cultured an M. circinelloides isolate and found that the isolate belongs to the species M. circinelloides f. circinelloides, which is often associated with human infections. In murine and insect host models, the isolate was virulent. While information disseminated in the popular press would suggest this fungal contaminant poses little or no risk to consumers, our results show instead that it is capable of causing significant infections in animals.

Dataset Information

First respiratory transmitted food borne outbreak?

Publications

First respiratory transmitted food borne outbreak?

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets