To the Editor: The globalization of food production and trade has increased the potential risk for infectious foodborne diseases. Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and norovirus (NoV) constitute the most important foodborne pathogens of humans in terms of numbers of outbreaks and persons affected in industrialized countries (1,2). In these countries, improvement of health conditions and development of sp...

Sediment samples collected at 33 stations in Tokyo Bay during the autumn of 1999 were examined to determine the distribution and abundance of resting cysts of Alexandrium tamarense and/or A. catenella. Extremely low concentrations of cysts were observed in Tokyo Bay compared with previously investigated sites in the Seto Inland Sea and Lake Hamana which have almost the same marine environmental...

An overview is given of the biological origin of phycotoxins, as well as their chemical characteristics. Major poisoning types are described and examples of poisoning events are given to illustrate the importance of the phenomenon to both shellfish consumers and the shellfish producing industry. The characteristics of phycotoxins as natural products, the lack of predictability of their occurren...

Heavy metals are one of the most serious pollutants in the environment due to their toxicity, persistence and ability to concentrate along the food chain. Water bodies contaminated by heavy metals may lead to bioaccumulation in the food chain of an estuarine environment. Contamination of natural waters by heavy metals negatively affects aquatic biota and poses considerable environmental risks a...

Complex secondary metabolites, some of which are highly toxic to mammals, are produced by many marine organisms. Some of these organisms are important food sources for marine animals and, when ingested, the toxins that they produce may be absorbed and stored in the tissues of the predators, which then become toxic to animals higher up the food chain. This is a particular problem with shellfish,...

Marine vibrios, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus and V. cholerae are responsible of the majority of food-borne human infections by consumption of bivalve shellfish. The aim of the present study was to ascertain the occurrence of these bacteria, and their potential pathogenicity, in the Manila clam R. philippinarum from Emilia Romagna (ER) and Sardinia (SR) regions, Italy. Isolation was pe...