Transfer of Acanthamoeba spp. to fresh produce from water and environmental surfaces

Abstract

Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are the primary cause of food-borne disease outbreaks in the United States. The most frequent commodities implicated in HuNoV outbreaks are leafy greens where contamination may occur during production and harvesting practices. With respect to the transmission of HuNoV to fresh produce, one hypothesis is that free-living amoebae that are ubiquitous in the environment (soil, sediments and water) can serve as vehicles of contamination through interaction with viruses. Here, we investigated the transfer of Acanthamoeba spp. both alone and associated with murine norovirus (MNV-1)-a surrogate for HuNoV-from water and food contact surfaces to fresh produce to understand the transfer of amoebae and the effect of virus association with amoeba on transferability, if any. In water containing a low concentration of amoebae (3 log10 cell ml-1), 3·85 log10 amoebae transferred to 5 g of leafy greens, and for 5 cherry tomatoes, 3·4 to 3·5 log10 amoebae were transferred. Similarly, for high concentrations of amoeba (5 log10 cell ml-1) in water, 6·14 and 5·81 log10 amoebae were transferred to 5 g leafy greens and five cherry tomatoes respectively. However, the transfer of amoebae from food contact surfaces to fresh produce was very limited. In addition, amoebae association with MNV-1 did not impact transferability.