Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate, at a laboratory scale, the ability of this microorganism to grow in seawater and bioaccumulate in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) maintained in constantly aerated tanks, containing twenty litres of artificial seawater. Three concentrations of A. butzleri LMG 10828T were tested (about 5 × 106 CFU/mL, 5 × 104 CFU/mL, and 5 × 102 CFU/mL). Following contamination, enumeration of A. butzleri was performed from water and mussels each day, for up to 96 h. Three contamination experiments with artificial seawater in absence of mussels were also performed in the same manner. In the experiments with mussels, A. butzleri declined in water of approximately 1 log every 24 h from the contamination. In artificial seawater without mussels the concentration of A. butzleri remained on the same logarithmic level in the first 48 h and then decreased of about 1 log every 24 hours. In mussels, the concentration was approximately 2 log lower than the exposition level after 24 h from the contamination, and then it decreased exponentially of 1 log every 24 h. Our findings suggest that in the experimental conditions tested A. butzleri is neither able to effectively grow in seawater nor bioaccumulate in mussels, at least in the free and cultivable form.
Highlights
The genus Arcobacter had become increasingly important in recent years because some of the species have been considered emergent food-borne enteropathogens worldwide [1]
The aim of this work was to evaluate, at the laboratory scale, the ability of Arcobacter to grow in seawater and bioaccumulate in mussels, in order to gain preliminary information on humans risk related to the presence of A. butzleri in the marine environment
The greater reduction in the first 48 h of the loads of A. butzleri in the tests conducted in the water with mussels than in those without the mussels can be probably attributed to the presence of log (CFU/mL)
Summary
The genus Arcobacter had become increasingly important in recent years because some of the species have been considered emergent food-borne enteropathogens worldwide [1]. In Italy an outbreak of A. butzleri affected 10 children, with such severe symptoms to require hospitalization [6] This species has been reported to be the etiological agent of traveller’s diarrhoea acquired by U.S and European travellers to Mexico, Guatemala, and India, with a prevalence of 8% [7]. The behaviour of this pathogen in the marine environment and how it bioaccumulates in shellfish have not been investigated, the public health risk associated with the consumption of shellfish contaminated with other human enteropathogens is well documented [12] Based on these considerations, the aim of this work was to evaluate, at the laboratory scale, the ability of Arcobacter to grow in seawater and bioaccumulate in mussels, in order to gain preliminary information on humans risk related to the presence of A. butzleri in the marine environment
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