FOOD SCIENCE

Hepatitis A Testing

Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which is spread through infected food that has been contaminated with fecal material.  HAV transmission by food commonly occurs through some local source of contaminated water, surfaces, and infected food handlers.  Hepatitis A outbreaks have also been associated with consumption of fresh produce contaminated with HAV during cultivation, harvesting, processing, or distribution.

Cooking minimizes the risk of illness by reducing or eliminating the virus or other pathogens. Contaminated foods that do not undergo cooking, or those that are lightly cooked, such as fruits and vegetables, are often at greater risk of transmitting Hepatitis A.

HAV is a virus that resists drying and is more heat resistant than many other enteric viruses.  Properly cooked foods are of less risk in the transmission of Hepatitis A. 

Microbac offers PCR testing to detect Hepatitis A.

Microbac provides the laboratory experience and technical expertise to test for and detect HAV as quickly as possible so that health officials and other government agencies can receive proper notice. 

Recently developed techniques using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to amplify the nucleic acids of a pathogen have been modified for detection of HAV in produce.  HAV is a positive strand RNA virus belonging to the hepatovirus group of the picornavirus family.

Using total RNA extracted from captured HAV particles and reverse transcription-PCR, this procedure can be applied for routine surveillance of HAV in fresh produce.  Click here to learn how the PCR process works.

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