Abstract & Overview
Viruses have been increasingly recognized as important causes of foodborne disease. One category of implicated foods is those that are minimally processed, such as fresh produce. The initial attachment of enteric viruses to green vegetables is a critical step in the chain of contamination events. Therefore, the primary target of this research is study of the prevalence of enteric viruses (Adenovirus and Coxsackievirus B4) to draws attention to the threat of viruses as a risk to public health and accordingly, can provide insight into appropriate intervention methods that can be used to either prevent attachment or remove the attached viral pathogens. A total of 135 leafy green vegetables samples from three governorates (Giza, Kafr El-Sheikh, and Qalyubia) were collected, where 45 samples from each governorate. The vegetable items which chosen for the current study were lettuce, spinach, and green onions, where 15 samples from each item. From our findings, it was found that Adenovirus was present in some examined vegetables samples from the three locations but in different prevalence contamination percentages. Lettuce, spinach and green onion were contaminated by 13.3%, 20% and 13.3% for fields irrigated with water from Elmaryotia canal (Giza governorate), respectively. While, by 60%, 46.6% and 26.6% for fields irrigated with water from the Kitchener drain (Kafr El-Sheikh governorate), respectively. As well as, by 33.3%, 13.3% and 6.6% for El-Gabal El-Asfar farm (Qalyubia governorate), respectively. On the other hand, CoxB4 was not detected in any samples from the region of Elmaryotia canal. In contrast, the three vegetable items of the area of Kitchener drain were contaminated by 40%, 26.6%, and 30%, respectively. In the same trend samples of El-Gabal El-Asfar farm showed contamination percentages were 40%, 26.6%, and 20%, respectively. It is worth mentioning statistically found that, there is a significant difference between locations regarding Adenovirus and Cox B4 present on lettuce plant (p ≤ 0.05). While no statistically significant difference between locations regarding Adenovirus and CoxB4 present on spinach and green onion plants (p > 0.05). However, there was a highly statistically significant difference between locations regarding Adenovirus and CoxB4 at (p ≤ 0.001).