Foodborne Pathogens Across Different Food Matrices in Sicily (Southern Italy)

Foodborne diseases result from the consumption of foods contaminated with pathogens or their toxins and represent a serious public health problem worldwide. This study aimed to assess the presence of Rotavirus (RoV), Adenovirus (AdV), Norovirus (NoV), Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E viruses (HAV and HEV, respectively), <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, <i>Coxiella burnetii</i> and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. across various food matrices in Sicily. The analysis concerned 504 samples, including mussels, farmed meat, game meat, vegetables and bulk milk. Following appropriate pre-treatment, acid nucleic extraction was carried out and amplification of pathogen nucleic acids was carried out by molecular methods. The mussels tested positive for NoVs (3/51, 5.9%) and farm meat resulted positive for <i>T. gondii</i> (1/34, 2.9%). The game offal samples tested positive for HEV, which was detected in 17 out of 222 samples (7.7%), and <i>T. gondii</i> (18/318, 5.7%) and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. (2/318, 0.6%). The milk samples tested positive for <i>C. burnetii</i> (15/85, 17.6%), <i>T. gondii</i> (2/85, 2.4%) and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. (1/85, 1.2%). This study highlights the variability in the risk of contamination of different food matrices, confirming the importance of vigilance in the consumption of potentially contaminated food products.