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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens
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Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 January 2023) | Viewed by 28760

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yosra A. Helmy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40504, USA
Interests: zoonotic pathogens; drug discovery; antimicrobial resistance; gene expression during infection; control of foodborne bacterial pathogens; host responses (immunity) to infectious diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Hafez Mohamed Hafez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin, Königsweg 63, 14163 Berlin, Germany
Interests: zoonotic diseases of poultry; control of foodborne pathogens antimicrobial resistance; turkey diseases and food safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food-borne and water-borne infectious diseases have become a rising a public health concern worldwide especially in low-income and middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), water-borne pathogens kill over 3.4 million people per year, while about 1 in 10 people around the world become sick after eating contaminated food, with more than 420 000 deaths and 125 000 deaths in children under 5 years of age annually. More than 200 diseases are caused by eating/drinking contaminated food and water with infectious pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. The intensity and duration of illness varies greatly. These pathogens include are but not limited to Norovirus, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, Listeria, Yersinia, Hepatitis A virus, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia. Outbreak of these pathogens might be due to increased international travel, climate change, and food importation. Illnesses ranged from gastrointestinal to cancers, and other complications might also appear. 

We welcome original research articles, review articles, opinion pieces, commentaries, and different perspectives. Papers that describe only small incremental work will not be considered for peer review and publication.

Suggested topic areas include the following:

  • Diagnosis and novel detection methods;
  • Epidemiology;
  • Risk assessment and management;
  • Host–pathogen interaction;
  • Virulence factors;
  • Immune response;
  • Antimicrobial resistance;
  • Reservoirs of resistance and antimicrobial genes;
  • One Health approach;
  • Novel therapies for the control of infectious pathogens;
  • Emerging zoonotic diseases (viruses, bacteria, and parasites) in animals and their impact on human health;
  • Approaches to reduce the use of antibiotics in farm animals.

Dr. Yosra A. Helmy
Prof. Dr. Hafez Mohamed Hafez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • epidemiology
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • control
  • treatment food and water-borne pathogens
  • diagnosis

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2212 KiB  
Article
Inhibition of Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria by Excreted Metabolites of Serratia marcescens Strains Isolated from a Dairy-Producing Environment
by Bernadett Baráti-Deák, Giseli Cristina Da Costa Arruda, Judit Perjéssy, Adél Klupács, Zsolt Zalán, Csilla Mohácsi-Farkas and Ágnes Belák
Microorganisms 2023, 11(2), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11020403 - 4 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3105
Abstract
Serratia marcescens strains from a dairy-producing environment were tested for their inhibitory effect on Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Hartford, Yersinia enterocolitica and Escherichia coli. Inhibition of foodborne pathogens was observed in the case of a non-pigmented Serratia strain, while the pigment-producing isolate [...] Read more.
Serratia marcescens strains from a dairy-producing environment were tested for their inhibitory effect on Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Hartford, Yersinia enterocolitica and Escherichia coli. Inhibition of foodborne pathogens was observed in the case of a non-pigmented Serratia strain, while the pigment-producing isolate was able to inhibit only Y. enterocolitica. The co-culturing study in tryptone soya broth (TSB) and milk showed that the growth of Salmonella was inhibited in the first 24 h, but later the pathogen could grow in the presence of the Serratia strain even if its cell concentration was 1000 times higher than that of Salmonella. However, we found that (1) concentrated cell-free supernatants had stronger inhibitory activity, which confirms the extracellular nature of the antagonistic compound(s). We proved that (2) protease and chitinase enzymes can take part in this mechanism, but they are not the main inhibitory compounds. The presence of prodigiosin was observed only in the case of the pigmented strain; thus, (3) we hypothesized that prodigiosin does not take part in the inhibition of the pathogens. However, (4) the combined effect of different extracellular metabolites might be attributed to the inhibitory property. Application of concentrated S. marcescens cell-free supernatant can be an effective antibacterial strategy in the food industry, mainly in the form of a bio-disinfectant on surfaces of food-processing areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens)
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19 pages, 2346 KiB  
Article
Critical Assessment of Short-Read Assemblers for the Metagenomic Identification of Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens Using Simulated Bacterial Communities
by Zhao Chen and Jianghong Meng
Microorganisms 2022, 10(12), 2416; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122416 - 6 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2680
Abstract
Metagenomics offers the highest level of strain discrimination of bacterial pathogens from complex food and water microbiota. With the rapid evolvement of assembly algorithms, defining an optimal assembler based on the performance in the metagenomic identification of foodborne and waterborne pathogens is warranted. [...] Read more.
Metagenomics offers the highest level of strain discrimination of bacterial pathogens from complex food and water microbiota. With the rapid evolvement of assembly algorithms, defining an optimal assembler based on the performance in the metagenomic identification of foodborne and waterborne pathogens is warranted. We aimed to benchmark short-read assemblers for the metagenomic identification of foodborne and waterborne pathogens using simulated bacterial communities. Bacterial communities on fresh spinach and in surface water were simulated by generating paired-end short reads of Illumina HiSeq, MiSeq, and NovaSeq at different sequencing depths. Multidrug-resistant Salmonella Indiana SI43 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 were included in the simulated communities on fresh spinach and in surface water, respectively. ABySS, IDBA-UD, MaSuRCA, MEGAHIT, metaSPAdes, and Ray Meta were benchmarked in terms of assembly quality, identifications of plasmids, virulence genes, Salmonella pathogenicity island, antimicrobial resistance genes, chromosomal point mutations, serotyping, multilocus sequence typing, and whole-genome phylogeny. Overall, MEGHIT, metaSPAdes, and Ray Meta were more effective for metagenomic identification. We did not obtain an optimal assembler when using the extracted reads classified as Salmonella or P. aeruginosa for downstream genomic analyses, but the extracted reads showed consistent phylogenetic topology with the reference genome when they were aligned with Salmonella or P. aeruginosa strains. In most cases, HiSeq, MiSeq, and NovaSeq were comparable at the same sequencing depth, while higher sequencing depths generally led to more accurate results. As assembly algorithms advance and mature, the evaluation of assemblers should be a continuous process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens)
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17 pages, 2124 KiB  
Article
Sources and Drivers of ARGs in Urban Streams in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
by Robert A. Sowah, Marirosa Molina, Ourania Georgacopoulos, Blake Snyder and Mike Cyterski
Microorganisms 2022, 10(9), 1804; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10091804 - 8 Sep 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2623
Abstract
The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the aquatic environment is an emerging concern in the interest of protecting public health. Stemming the environmental dissemination of ARGs will require a better understanding of the sources and drivers of ARGs in the water [...] Read more.
The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the aquatic environment is an emerging concern in the interest of protecting public health. Stemming the environmental dissemination of ARGs will require a better understanding of the sources and drivers of ARGs in the water environment. In this study, we used direct measurement of sewage-associated molecular markers, the class 1 integron gene, standard water quality parameters, and watershed characteristics to evaluate the sources and drivers of ARGs in an urban watershed impacted by a gradient of human activities. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to quantify the abundance of the sewage-associated HF183, the E. coli fecal indicator, class 1 integron gene (int1), and the ARGs sulI, sulII, tetW, tetM, ampC, and blaSHV in stream water samples collected from the Proctor Creek watershed in Atlanta, Georgia. Our findings show that ARGs were widely distributed, with detection frequencies of 96% (sulI and sulII), 82% (tetW and tetM), and 49% (ampC and blaSHV). All the ARGs were positively and significantly correlated (r > 0.5) with the HF183 and E. coli markers. Non-linear machine learning models developed using generalized boosting show that more than 70% of the variation in ARG loads in the watershed could be explained by fecal source loading, with other factors such as class 1 integron, which is associated with acquired antibiotic resistance, and environmental factors contributing < 30% to ARG variation. These results suggest that input from fecal sources is a more critical driver of ARG dissemination than environmental stressors or horizontal gene transfer in aquatic environments highly impacted by anthropogenic pollution. Finally, our results provide local watershed managers and stakeholders with information to mitigate the burden of ARGs and fecal bacteria in urban streams. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens)
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Review

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22 pages, 843 KiB  
Review
Cryptosporidiosis: From Prevention to Treatment, a Narrative Review
by Yosra A. Helmy and Hafez M. Hafez
Microorganisms 2022, 10(12), 2456; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122456 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 14016
Abstract
Cryptosporidiosis is a water- and food-borne zoonotic disease caused by the protozoon parasite of the genus Cryptosporidium. C. hominis and C. parvum are the main two species causing infections in humans and animals. The disease can be transmitted by the fecal–oral route as [...] Read more.
Cryptosporidiosis is a water- and food-borne zoonotic disease caused by the protozoon parasite of the genus Cryptosporidium. C. hominis and C. parvum are the main two species causing infections in humans and animals. The disease can be transmitted by the fecal–oral route as well as the respiratory route. The infective stage (sporulated oocysts) is resistant to different disinfectants including chlorine. Currently, no effective therapeutic drugs or vaccines are available to treat and control Cryptosporidium infection. To prevent cryptosporidiosis in humans and animals, we need to understand better how the disease is spread and transmitted, and how to interrupt its transmission cycle. This review focuses on understanding cryptosporidiosis, including its infective stage, pathogenesis, life cycle, genomics, epidemiology, previous outbreaks, source of the infection, transmission dynamics, host spectrum, risk factors and high-risk groups, the disease in animals and humans, diagnosis, treatment and control, and the prospect of an effective anti-Cryptosporidium vaccine. It also focuses on the role of the One Health approach in managing cryptosporidiosis at the animal–human–environmental interface. The summarized data in this review will help to tackle future Cryptosporidium infections in humans and animals and reduce the disease occurrence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens)
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25 pages, 750 KiB  
Review
Mathematical Models for Cholera Dynamics—A Review
by Jin Wang
Microorganisms 2022, 10(12), 2358; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122358 - 29 Nov 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5218
Abstract
Cholera remains a significant public health burden in many countries and regions of the world, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms associated with its transmission, spread, and control. Mathematical modeling offers a valuable research tool to investigate cholera dynamics [...] Read more.
Cholera remains a significant public health burden in many countries and regions of the world, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms associated with its transmission, spread, and control. Mathematical modeling offers a valuable research tool to investigate cholera dynamics and explore effective intervention strategies. In this article, we provide a review of the current state in the modeling studies of cholera. Starting from an introduction of basic cholera transmission models and their applications, we survey model extensions in several directions that include spatial and temporal heterogeneities, effects of disease control, impacts of human behavior, and multi-scale infection dynamics. We discuss some challenges and opportunities for future modeling efforts on cholera dynamics, and emphasize the importance of collaborations between different modeling groups and different disciplines in advancing this research area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens)
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