P.11 - Detection of viral RNA of zoonotic foodborne pathogens in raw milk samples collected from small ruminants

Background: Acute gastroenteritis cases, caused by emerging and re-emerging viral zoonotic foodborne pathogens, have widely increased in many developed and incoming countries in the world. More in detail, astrovirus (AstV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), norovirus genogroups I and II (NoV-GI and NoV-GII), and rotavirus (RotV) can infect consumers by the ingestion of raw and contaminated food matrices as raw milk. Objective: Aims of this study are to apply quantitative and qualitative biomolecular methods to discover AstV, HAV, HEV, NoV-GI, NoV-GII, and RotV RNA regions in raw milk samples collected from small ruminants. Materials and Methods: A total of 628 small ruminants including sheep (n=245) and goats (n=383), farmed in Central Italy, were included in this study. From each animal, aliquots of raw milk (50 mL) were collected during their lactation peaks. The extracted RNA was successively used for real time RT-qPCR and nested RT-PCR assays. Results: Results showed that 12.74% of the screened milk samples harbored the RNA of at least one of the considered viral pathogens. More in detail, 6.68% were positive to HEV, 5.57% to AstV, and 4.14% to NoV-GI. Based on a comparative perspective, goats detected more viral RNA than ovine (p-value= <0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: The discovered AstV, HEV, and NoV-GI RNA regions represent the first harborings and co-harborings in Italy. Concerning HEV, the observed prevalence was higher than the 2.80% described in Czech Republic, and lower than 18.50% in Turkey. These findings can be scientifically justified by different variables e.g., naked viruses’ ultrastructural characteristics (high environmental resistance), cross-species infections, farming methods and graze area sharing with wild target hosts provide the ideal conditions for viral persistence. Perspectives: Analysing raw milk, collected from small ruminants, can be useful for public health authorities and farmers contributing to guarantee safe foodstuffs for consumers.