Assessment of enterovirus contamination in vegetable samples in Morocco by reverse transcription Nested-PCR

Abstract Vegetables are often implicated in the transmission for food-borne diseases, but local research on enteric viruses in vegetables is scarce despite its importance for public health. In this paper we report the results of an investigation on the presence of enteroviruses in vegetables irrigated by wastewater in Morocco. Viruses were concentrated from vegetable tissues by direct glycine elution and PEG 8000 precipitation. Total RNA was then extracted from the PEG precipitate by the guanidine thiocyanate method and transcribed into cDNA followed by "nested-PCR". Enterovirus genomes were detected in 16% of analysed samples. The range of positive samples is: eggplant, broad bean, tomato, pepper, potato, garden pea and radish. The Enterovirus contamination observed in this study should be considered as a serious risk to public health.