Selected Viruses Detected on and in our Food

Purpose of review: The purpose of this review is to provide an update on recent literature and findings concerning selected foodborne viruses. Two groups of viruses were selected: (a) the most important viruses contaminating food, based on numbers of publications in the last 5 years and (b) viruses infecting sources of food that might have an impact on human health.

Recent findings: Important foodborne viruses such as norovirus, hepatitis A and rotavirus are usually "only" contaminating food and are detected on the surface of foodstuffs. However, they are threats to human public health and make up for the majority of cases. In contrast, the meaning of viruses born from within the food such as natural animal and plant viruses is still in many cases unknown. An exception is Hepatitis E virus that is endemic in pigs, transmitted via pork meat and is recognised as an emerging zoonosis in industrialised countries.

Summary: Even though the clinical meaning of "new" foodborne viruses, often detected by next generation sequencing, still needs clarification, the method has great potential to enhance surveillance and detection particularly in view of an increasingly globalised food trade.