The objectives of this study were to quantify enteric viruses in shellfish along the Chinese coast and find an indicator of viral contamination in shellfish. One hundred sixty-two samples were collected in August from 10 cities. Hepatitis A virus (HAV), norovirus (NV), rotavirus (RV), poliovirus (PV), astrovirus (AsV) and adenovirus (AdV) were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and confirmed by sequencing. The percentage of positive samples for each virus was as follows: HAV 5%, NV 12%, RV 7%, PV 15%, AsV 6% and AdV 9%. The six species of shellfish were contaminated with different viruses. PV showed a significant correlation with other viruses, with the exception of RV (P< 0.05). Contamination of shellfish with human enteric viruses was common across a large geographical region of China, indicating a potential public health threat from seafood. The data confirm the potential to monitor the food safety of shellfish by using PV as an index of enteric virus contamination.
展开▼
