https://doi.org/10.4081/ijfs.2024.12218
One-year monitoring of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in the waters and sediments of the Lesina and Varano lagoons (South-East Italy)
Submitted: 27 December 2023
Accepted: 11 March 2024
Published: 7 May 2024
Accepted: 11 March 2024
Abstract Views: 585
PDF: 165
HTML: 9
HTML: 9
Publisher's note
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.
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.
Authors
In this study, two Mediterranean coastal lagoons (Lesina and Varano) of southern Italy, located in the north of the Apulia region, were investigated for the presence of Shiga toxin Escherichia coli (STEC) and potentially enteropathogenic Vibrio species in parallel with norovirus (NoV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study aimed to evaluate the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and viruses in the water and sediments of these ecosystems. From March 2022 to February 2023, a total of 98 samples were collected: 49 water samples and 49 sediment samples. STEC strains were isolated in three samples (3.1%), of which one (2%) was water (stx1 and stx2 positive) and two (4.1%) were sediment (both stx2 positive) samples. Vibrio spp. were detected in twenty samples (20.4%), of which nine were water (18.4%) and eleven were sediment (22.4%) samples. The species detected included V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, and V. vulnificus. NoV was detected in 25 (25.5%) samples, while none of the water or sediment samples were positive for HAV, HEV, and SARS-CoV-2. The results of this study provide an overview of the presence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in areas influenced by anthropogenic pressure. Monitoring the circulation of these pathogens could be useful to evaluate the water flowing into the lagoons, in particular discharge waters (i.e., urban, agricultural, and livestock runoff), considering the presence of fish and shellfish farms in these sites.
Baker-Austin C, Oliver JD, Alam M, Ali A, Waldor MK, Qadri F, Martinez-Urtaza J, 2018. Vibrio spp. infections. Nat Rev Dis Primers 12;4:8.
Bazzoni AM, Mudadu AG, Esposito G, Urru R, Ortu S, Mara L, Uda MT, Arras I, Lorenzoni G, Sanna G, Bazzardi R, Marongiu E, Virgilio S, Meloni D, 2019. Bacterial and Viral Investigations Combined with Determination of Phytoplankton and Algal Biotoxins in Mussels and Water from a Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon (Sardinia, Italy). J Food Prot 82:1501-11.
Bell RL, Kase JA, Harrison LM, Balan KV, Babu U, Chen Y, Macarisin D, Kwon HJ, Zheng J, Stevens EL, Meng J, Brown EW, 2021. The persistence of bacterial pathogens in surface water and its impact on global food safety. Pathogens 10:1391.
Bollettino SEIEVA, 2023a. Bollettino SEIVA n.13. Epidemiologia delle epatiti virali acute in Italia. Novembre 2023. Available from: https://www.epicentro.iss.it/epatite/dati-seieva-archivio.
Bollettino SEIEVA, 2023b. Bollettino SEIEVA n.12. Epidemiologia delle epatiti virali acute in Italia. Marzo 2023. Available from: https://www.epicentro.iss.it/epatite/dati-seieva-archivio.
Bonadonna L, Briancesco R, Suffredini E, Coccia A, Della Libera S, Carducci A, Verani M, Federigi I, Iaconelli M, Bonanno Ferraro G, Mancini P, Veneri C, Ferretti E, Lucentini L, Gramaccioni L, La Rosa G, 2019. Enteric viruses, somatic coliphages and Vibrio species in marine bathing and non-bathing waters in Italy. Mar Pollut Bull 149:110570.
Bonadonna L, La Rosa G, 2019. A review and update on waterborne viral diseases associated with swimming pools. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16:166.
Brumfield KD, Usmani M, Chen KM, Gangwar M, Jutla AS, Huq A, Colwell RR, 2021. Environmental parameters associated with incidence and transmission of pathogenic Vibrio spp. Environ Microbiol 23:7314-40.
Caroppo C, Roselli L, Di Leo A, 2018. Hydrological conditions and phytoplankton community in the Lesina lagoon (southern Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean). Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 25:1784-99.
Cioffi B, Monini M, Salamone M, Pellicano R, Di Bartolo I, Guida M, La Rosa G, Fusco G, 2020. Environmental surveillance of human enteric viruses in wastewaters, groundwater, surface water and sediments of Campania. Region Reg Stud Mar Sci 38:101368.
Council of the European Communities, 1992. Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. In: Official Journal, L 206, 22/07/1992.
D’Adamo R, Specchiulli A, Cassin D, Botter M, Zonta R, Fabbrocini A, 2014. The effect of floods on sediment contamination in a microtidal coastal lagoon: the lagoon of Lesina, Italy. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 67:297-309.
European Food Safety Authority BIOHAZ Panel, 2020. Pathogenicity assessment of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and the public health risk posed by contamination of food with STEC. EFSA J 18:e05967.
European Food Safety Authority, European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, 2023. The European Union one health 2022 zoonoses report. EFSA J 21:e8442.
European Parliament, Council of the European Union, 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy.
European Parliament, Council of the European Union, 2004. Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin. In: Official Journal, L 139/55, 30/04/2004.
European Parliament, Council of the European Union, 2009. Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds. In: Official Journal, L 20/7, 26/01/2010.
Fabbrocini A, Cassin D, Santucci A, Scirocco T, Specchiulli A, D’Adamo R, 2017. Early chemical and ecotoxicological responses of the Varano lagoon (SE Italy) to a flood event. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 144:178-86.
Farkas K, Peters DE, McDonald JE, de Rougemont A, Malham SK, Jones DL, 2017. Evaluation of Two Triplex One-Step qRT-PCR Assays for the Quantification of Human Enteric Viruses in Environmental Samples. Food Environ Virol 9:342-9.
Green KY, 2013. Caliciviridae: The noroviruses. In: Fields BN, Knipe DM, Howley PM, eds. Fields virology. Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA, USA, pp 949-79.
Iaconelli M, Muscillo M, Della Libera S, Fratini M, Meucci L, De Ceglia M, Giacosa D, La Rosa G, 2017. One-year Surveillance of human enteric viruses in raw and treated wastewaters, downstream river waters, and drinking waters. Food Environ Virol 91:79-88.
ISO, 2012. Microbiology of food and animal feed. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for the detection of food-borne pathogens. Horizontal method for the detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and the determination of O157, O111, O26, O103 and O145 serogroups. ISO Norm 13136:2012. International Standardization Organization ed., Geneva, Switzerland.
ISO, 2017. Microbiology of the food chain. Horizontal method for the determination of Vibrio spp. Part 1: detection of potentially enteropathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus. ISO Norm 21872-1:2017. International Standardization Organization ed., Geneva, Switzerland.
Johne R, Dremsek P, Reetz J, Heckel G, Hess M, Ulrich RG, 2014. Hepeviridae: an expanding family of vertebrate viruses. Infect Genet Evol 27:212-29.
La Rosa G, Della Libera S, Iaconelli M, Proroga YTR, De Medici D, Martella V, Suffredini E, 2017. Detection of norovirus GII.17 Kawasaki 2014 in shellfish, marine water and underwater sewage discharges in Italy. Food Environ Virol 9:326-33.
Loconsole D, Giordano M, Centrone F, Accogli M, Casulli D, De Robertis AL, Morea A, Quarto M, Parisi A, Scavia G, Chironna M, On Behalf Of The Bloody Diarrhea Apulia Working Group, 2020. Epidemiology of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections in southern Italy after implementation of symptom-based surveillance of bloody diarrhea in the pediatric population. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:5137.
Pérez-Ruzafa A, Marcos C, Pérez-Ruzafa IM, 2011. Mediterranean coastal lagoons in an ecosystem and aquatic resources management context. Phys Chem Earth, Parts A/B/C, 36:160-6.
Pérez-Sautu U, Costafreda MI, Lite J, Sala R, Barrabeig I, Bosch A, Pintó RM, 2011. Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis A virus infections in Catalonia, Spain, 2005-2009: circulation of newly emerging strains. J Clin Virol 52:98-102.
Persad AK, LeJeune JT, 2014. Animal reservoirs of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. Microbiol Spectr 2:EHEC-0027-2014.
Polo D, Lois M, Fernández-Núñez MT, Romalde JL, 2021. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in bivalve mollusks and marine sediments. Sci Total Environ 786:147534.
Purdy MA, Drexler JF, Meng XJ, Norder H, Okamoto H, Van der Poel WHM, Reuter G, de Souza WM, Ulrich RG, Smith DB, 2022. ICTV virus taxonomy profile: Hepeviridae. Gen Virol 103.
Renzi M, Provenza F, Pignattelli S, Cilenti L, Specchiulli A, Pepi M, 2019. Mediterranean coastal lagoons: the importance of monitoring in sediments the biochemical composition of organic matter. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16:3466.
Rivera IN, Chun J, Huq A, Sack RB, Colwell RR, 2001. Genotypes associated with virulence in environmental isolates of Vibrio cholerae. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:2421-9.
Robertson BH, Jansen RW, Khanna B, Totsuka A, Nainan OV, Siegl G, Widell A, Margolis HS, Isomura S, Ito K, Ishizu T, Moritsugu Y, Lemon SM, 1992. Genetic relatedness of hepatitis A virus strains recovered from different geographical regions. J Gen Virol 73:1365-77.
Scirocco T, Urbano F, 2018. The population of the non-indigenous bivalve Arcuatula senhousia of the Varano Lagoon (Adriatic Sea, Italy). J Environ Sci Eng 7:345-53.
Solazzi A, Tolomio C, Andreoli C, Caniglia G, Colliva V, 1972. La laguna di Lesina (Foggia): carico microfitico in un ciclo annuale. Mem Biogeogr Adr 9:1-42. [Article in Italian].
Takuissu GR, Kenmoe S, Ndip L, Ebogo-Belobo JT, Kengne-Ndé C, Mbaga DS, Bowo-Ngandji A, Oyono MG, Kenfack-Momo R, Tchatchouang S, Kenfack-Zanguim J, Lontuo Fogang R, Zeuko’o Menkem E, Kame-Ngasse GI, Magoudjou-Pekam JN, Nkie Esemu S, Veneri C, Mancini P, Bonanno Ferraro G, Iaconelli M, Suffredini E, La Rosa G, 2022. Hepatitis E virus in water environments: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Food Environ Virol 14:223-35.
Torresi M, Sperandii A, Ricci L, Prencipe V, Migliorati G, Pomilio F, 2018. Detection and characterisation of potentially pathogenic species of Vibrio in the Vibrata river, Abruzzo Region, Italy. Vet Ital 542:125-35.
Trinanes J, Martinez-Urtaza J, 2021. Future scenarios of risk of Vibrio infections in a warming planet: a global mapping study. Lancet Planet Health 5:e426-35.
World Health Organization, 2003. WHO/V&B/03.03. Guidelines for environmental surveillance of poliovirus circulation. Annex1: collection and concentration of grab samples, B. Concentration of sewage specimens using the two-phase separation method. Available from: https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/67854.
How to Cite
1.
Basanisi MG, Nobili G, La Bella G, D’Antuono AM, Coppola R, Damato AM, Scirocco T, Cilenti L, La Salandra G. One-year monitoring of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in the waters and sediments of the Lesina and Varano lagoons (South-East Italy). Ital J Food Safety [Internet]. 2024 May 7 [cited 2024 Nov. 23];13(2). Available from: https://www.pagepressjournals.org/ijfs/article/view/12218
Copyright (c) 2024 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.