The present survey collected and analyzed the results of routine testing for Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes on foods of animal origin submitted for official controls in Italy during 2001 to 2002. Salmonella was detected in 2.2% of 71,643 food samples examined, and the isolation rates ranged from 9.9% for raw poultry meat to less than 0.1% for dairy products. Isolation rates were also high in raw pork (4.9%) and processed meats (5.3%), which often involved pork. Low rates were observed in seafood (0.5%) and in ready-to-eat foods, such as grocery products (0.7%) and ice creams (0.1%). Serotyping showed that approximately 50% of the isolates belonged to the serotypes most commonly isolated from humans in Italy, thus confirming that most cases of human salmonellosis have a foodborne origin. Levels of L. monocytogenes were higher than what is accepted by the current regulation in 2.4% of 42,300 food samples. The positivity rates ranged from 10.3% in raw pork to none in eggs and egg products. Contamination rates were higher in other meat products (between 2 and 5%) and fish (6.5%) than in cheeses (1.1%) and other dairy products (0.6%). Routine control activities on the microbial contamination of foods can generate data with statistical and epidemiological value. Such data can be used as a basis for estimating the exposure of consumers to foodborne pathogens, following the trends of contamination over time, and evaluating the effects of control measures on the contamination of food.

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A helminthological survey was performed on 143 brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from the city of Palermo (Italy). The overall prevalence of helminth infection was 98.60 %. The following parasites were found: Brachylaima sp. (prevalence 8.39 %) (Trematoda); Taenia taeniaeformis larvae (11.89 %), Rodentolepis nana (13.29 %), Hymenolepis diminuta (24.48 %) (Cestoda); Gongylonema sp., (4.90 %), Syphacia muris (8.39 %), Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (18.88 %), Eucoleus gastricus (30.07 %), Mastophorus muris (30.77 %), Capillaria hepatica (54.55 %), Heterakis spumosa (82.52 %) (Nematoda) and one acanthocephalan (0.70 %). The species found in males were also present in females, with the exception of the acanthocephalan. No significant differences were found between males and females in prevalence (P%) or mean infection intensity (MI). However, a significant correlation between both P% and MI, as well as host age, was observed in some helminth species. Hosts were infected by one to six helminth species (median = 3). This is the first report from Sicily of helminths in R. norvegicus.

Many regions of the world are increasingly exposed to leptospirosis due to poverty, global warming and high urban density. Here, we report a molecular survey for pathogenic Leptospira spp. in rodents and two symptomatic human cases of leptospirosis in the city of Palermo, Italy. Four rodent species were captured in six areas of the city, and a molecular analysis for pathogenic Leptospira spp. on DNA from the kidney samples showed a different prevalence of leptospirosis in all the species of rodents. In addition, two human cases that occurred in May and October of 2009 in the city were also reported. A 67-year-old woman recovered after antibiotic treatment, whereas a 71-year-old woman did not survive. The weather during both of those times was notable for a violent cloudburst that caused street flooding. For the past several years, the incidence of leptospirosis has remained steady at 9 human cases every 10 years across the entire island of Sicily, with a population of almost 5 million inhabitants. The high prevalence of leptospirosis in rodents and the simultaneous presence of known risk factors, such as a mild/wet climate, street flooding and garbage accumulation, could explain the two cases of leptospirosis within the same city in the same year. This occurrence should raise awareness of this under-estimated zoonosis among public health authorities, especially given the potential fatality among elderly and immune-compromised individuals in urban settings in developed countries.

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Combining different preservative treatments for improving quality and safety of fishery products increasingly receives global research attention. Consistent with this pursuit, the current research was undertaken to determine the effects of different ozonized slurry‐ice treatments and superchilling (−1°C) storage on microbial spoilage of European anchovy (Eugraulis encrasicolus) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus), which are two commercially important pelagic fish species. After the catch (within <5 hr) and at defined scheduled storage times, ozone has been discharged once on sardine (herein referred to as “One‐T”) and repeatedly/sequentially on European anchovy (herein referred to as “Seq‐T”). Microbiological analyses enumerated total viable count (TVC), Bacillus spp., Enterobacteriaceae, Lactobacillus spp., Moraxella spp., Shewanella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Pseudomonas spp. Independent of potential antimicrobial effects of ozone during superchilling storage, no Listeria spp., Shewanella spp., Moraxella spp., and Bacillus spp. were found in all processed samples. While Enterobacteriaceae and Lactobacillus spp. were detected at below 1 log cfu/g, both TVC and Pseudomonas spp. proliferated at different rates throughout superchilling storage. The repeated ozone‐treated (“Seq‐T”) showed lower TVC and Pseudomonas spp. values compared with one‐time treated (“One‐T”) slurry‐iced and control samples. Thus, combined slurry‐ice and superchilling storage at Seq‐T produced improved antimicrobial activity over One‐T application. Largely, ozonized slurry‐ice outcomes/results appear promising thanks to superchilling storage.

Parasites belonging to the Anisakis genera are organisms of interest for human health because they are responsible for the Anisakiasis zoonosis, caused by the ingestion of raw or undercooked fish. Furthermore, several authors have reported this parasite to be a relevant inducer of acute or chronic allergic diseases. In this work, a rapid commercial system based on Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) was optimised and validated for the sensitive and rapid detection of Anisakis spp. DNA in processed fish products. The specificity and sensitivity of the LAMP assay for processed fish samples experimentally infected with Anisakis spp. larvae and DNA were determined. The LAMP system proposed in this study was able to give positive amplification for all the processed fish samples artificially contaminated with Anisakis spp., giving sensitivity values equal to 100%. Specificity tests provided no amplification for the Contracaecum, Pseudoterranova, or Hysterothylacium genera and uninfected samples. The limit of detection (LOD) of the LAMP assay proposed was 102 times lower than the real-time PCR method compared. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report regarding the application of the LAMP assay for the detection of Anisakis spp. in processed fish products. The results obtained indicate that the LAMP assay validated in this work could be a reliable, easy-to-use, and convenient tool for the rapid detection of Anisakis DNA in fish product inspection.