https://doi.org/10.4081/ijfs.2023.10344
Occurrence of Aliarcobacter spp. in fresh and pre-cut vegetables of common use in San José, Costa Rica
Submitted: 26 December 2021
Accepted: 27 June 2023
Published: 2 October 2023
Accepted: 27 June 2023
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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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.
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How to Cite
1.
Arias Echandi ML, Huete Soto A, Castillo Blanco JM, Fernández F, Fernandez Jaramillo H. Occurrence of <i>Aliarcobacter</i> spp. in fresh and pre-cut vegetables of common use in San José, Costa Rica. Ital J Food Safety [Internet]. 2023 Oct. 2 [cited 2024 Dec. 22];12(4). Available from: https://www.pagepressjournals.org/ijfs/article/view/10344
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