scholarly journals Food Safety Concerns in “COVID-19 Era”

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Carlotta Ceniti ◽  
Bruno Tilocca ◽  
Domenico Britti ◽  
Adriano Santoro ◽  
Nicola Costanzo

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a pandemic. Human-to-human transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus may initially be blamed as the first cause of spread, but can an infection be contracted by ingestion of contaminated food or touching contaminated food surfaces? Recently cold-chain food contamination has been indicated as a possible source of many human cases in China. However, the risk of a food-related COVID-19 infection is still debated since the virus may reach people through a fresh product or packaging, which have been touched/sneezed on by infected people. This review summarizes the most recent evidence on the zoonotic origin of the pandemic, reports the main results regarding the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through food or a food chain, as well as the persistence of the virus at different environmental conditions and surfaces. Emphasis is also posed on how to manage the risk of food-related COVID-19 spread and potential approaches that can reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 contamination.

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 3423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shrikant Warkad ◽  
Satish Nimse ◽  
Keum-Soo Song ◽  
Taisun Kim

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 71 million people were living with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection worldwide in 2015. Each year, about 399,000 HCV-infected people succumb to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure. Therefore, screening of HCV infection with simple, rapid, but highly sensitive and specific methods can help to curb the global burden on HCV healthcare. Apart from the determination of viral load/viral clearance, the identification of specific HCV genotype is also critical for successful treatment of hepatitis C. This critical review focuses on the technologies used for the detection, discrimination, and genotyping of HCV in clinical samples. This article also focuses on advantages and disadvantages of the reported methods used for HCV detection, quantification, and genotyping.


Author(s):  
S.A. Yeprintsev ◽  
◽  
O.V. Klepikov ◽  
S.V. Shekoyan ◽  
E.V. Zhigulina ◽  
...  

The spread of the dangerous Covid-19 infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus since the end of 2019 has become a great challenge to both the world and Russian society. For example, on January 30, 2020, the world health organization recognized the spread of a new infection as a public health emergency of international significance. On March 11, 2020, the same organization declared that the outbreak had become a pandemic. currently, the role of social and environmental factors (which determine the spread of many environmentally-related diseases) in the spread of coronavirus infection in the population has not been fully studied. The spread of Covid-19 infection in Russia can be divided into 3 stages. Stage 1 (31.01.2020–01.04.2020) – primary distribution. At this stage, the infection occurred mainly to Russian citizens visiting other countries. Stage 2 (1.04.2020– 12.05.2020) – active distribution within the country. By the end of this stage, the maximum spread of infection is recorded. Stage 3 (12.05.2020-present) – gradual decline in the appearance of new cases of coronavirus infection. To assess the specific contribution of socio-environmental conditions to the spread of coronavirus infection, data from the Federal information Fund for social and hygienic monitoring of the Federal CENTER for hygiene and epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor were analyzed on indicators of financial security of citizens, quality of health care and sanitary and hygienic conditions. Research has shown that financial security of the population makes a significant contribution to the spread of infection at the first stages. The specific contribution of the quality of medical care, which has a wide differentiation within the regions of Russia, affects only the third stage of the spread of coronavirus infection. Environmental and hygiene indicators make a weak contribution to the spread of Covid-19 in all three stages of the epidemic.


Author(s):  
Maad M. Mijwil ◽  
Ayser Shamil Alsaadi ◽  
Karan Aggarwal

Today, humans fight powerful and active viruses that never take hold and do not know defeat, named coronaviruses. These viruses have start in 2002 and continued to grow and have changed their chains dramatically until now. They are known for having many similar features in common, and there are also structural differences between them. The most important reason that has turned coronaviruses into a pandemic is that this disease is easily transmitted by droplets near infected people, which leads to the spread of this virus faster worldwide. The more details known about coronaviruses that have profoundly affected humanity in the past and present and the diseases they cause, the more benefit in help designing an immune response or preventive vaccine to these viruses in the near future. In this article, coronaviruses, how they have been started and spread, and what differences and similarities are between them will be briefly covered here. The information of this investigation is taken from articles and the world health organization and are reviewed here. The goal is to document this information for future reference.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-124
Author(s):  
Miftahul Ulfah

ABSTRACTThe spreading of a new corona virus named Covid-19 has caused so many death tolls to almost all countries in the world. Researchers suspect that this virus originated from the traditional market in China's Wuhan City selling a wide variety of fresh wet animals traded for consumption, including bats and pangolins which ultimately transmit the virus to humans. The World Health Organization has confirmed that Covid-19 transmission through droplets or sparks from infected people through talking, sneezing or coughing. With such causes, world governments recommend and even order the citizens to always maintain health and hygiene by washing hands, wearing masks, and covering mouths when sneezing or coughing. While in Islam, there are also procedures for behaving to maintain health and cleanliness. This literature study used qualitative method to examine the relevance of the global pandemic to the Islamic character education. This study then found that the influence of Covid-19 on the application of character education and Islamic education. This conclusion could be seen from the factors that influence the majority of characters carried out during the Covid-19 plague including instincts, habits, wills and conscience.Keywords: Application, Character Education, Covid-19, Islamic Education


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 423-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Shafiqul Islam ◽  
Han Antonius Heijnen ◽  
Deepthi Sumanasekera ◽  
Vivien Walden ◽  
Michel Roulet ◽  
...  

AbstractThis is a summary of the presentations and discussion by the panel that addressed issues with Water, Sanitation, Food Safety, and Environmental Health during the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04–06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to water, sanitation, food safety, and environmental health as pertain to the responses to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following major sections: (1) needs assessments; (2) institutional capacity and coordination; (3) what was done wel well, and what could have been done better?; and (4) capacity building and preparedness. Topics discussed in the needs assessment section included: (1) water supply; (2) hygiene; and (3) lessons learned. Topics discussed realated to capacity building and preparedness included: (1) waste and vector-bor borne diseases; (2) food safety; (3) nutrition; and (4) environmental health.


2005 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 246-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lineback ◽  
Thomas Wenzl ◽  
Ole P Ostermann ◽  
Beatriz de la Calle ◽  
Elke Anklam ◽  
...  

Abstract Since high acrylamide levels in carbohydrate-rich food were reported in 2002, many research activities were started in order to gain knowledge on occurrence, formation, and prevention of this compound in food products. Among them, monitoring programs were conducted in many countries worldwide by official bodies as well as by the food industry. National and international bodies set up monitoring databases. In 2003, both the European Commission and the World Health Organization posted calls for data and placed their spreadsheets for the submission of data on the Web. The goal of the databases is to collect data for a reliable estimation of the exposure of consumers to acrylamide via the food chain. This paper describes the assessment of the data quality and outlines the composition of the data in the 2 databases, to date.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiwani Rana ◽  
Sanjay Sharma ◽  
Kalyan Sundar Ghosh

<p>The coronavirus catastrophe (COVID-19) caused by a novel strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has turned the world upside down at an unprecedented level and has been declared as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). It has resulted huge number of fatalities and infections due to the severe lower respiratory tract sickness in the infected people. Research across the world is in progress to identify inhibitors against various molecular targets associated with this viral infection. Among these targets, a very important one is a cysteine like protease or 3CL protease (3CLpro) and that is required for the replication of the virus. In the present study, initially we have investigated the potential of twenty naturally occurring antiviral molecules to function as inhibitors against the activity of main viral protease (3CLpro) so as to put a halt on viral replication. The investigation has been carried out through docking of the molecules with 3CLpro. Based on the results, three most potential molecules (bilobetin, ginkgetin and sciadopitysin) have been screened. Further these molecules were subjected for checking their activity on other molecular targets like a papain like protease (PLpro), spike protein S1, RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. In addition to 3CLpro inhibition, ginkgetin was predicted as an inhibitor of PLpro also. But none of these three compounds was found effective on rest other molecular targets. </p>


2004 ◽  
Vol 132 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 272-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Kuljic-Kapulica

Smallpox is a potentially deadly illness caused by the variola virus, an orthopoxvirus. Severe illness followed by blister-like body rash is the sign of smallpox. Smallpox symptoms develop about 12 days after exposure. V. variole can spread very readily by aerosol, which may lead to explosive epidemics. For centuries, smallpox has been a worldwide cause of death, killing about 30% of the infected people. In 1972, the epidemic of smallpox in ex-Yugoslavia was the largest postwar smallpox epidemic in Europe. The total number of the affected was 175, out of whom 35 with fatal outcome, accounting for 20% of mortality. However, after a decade-long vaccination effort, the last natural case of smallpox occurred in 1977 The only way to prevent smallpox epidemic is by vaccination and patients' isolation. The possibility of future bioterrorism attacks, which may cause a new outbreak of smallpox and return variola, is very serious. World population is not immune, because of lack of vaccination. In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease fully eradicated.


Author(s):  
Jessica C Noll ◽  
Gabriela M do Nascimento ◽  
Diego G Diel

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, millions of people have contracted SARS-CoV-2 and died from the infection. Several domestic and wild species have contracted the disease as well. From the beginning, scientists have been working to develop vaccines and establish therapies that can prevent disease development and improve the clinical outcome in infected people. To understand various aspects of viral pathogenesis and infection dynamics and to support preclinical evaluation of vaccines and therapeutics, a diverse number of animal species have been evaluated for use as models of the disease and infection in humans. Here, we discuss natural SARS-CoV-2 infection of domestic and captive wild animals, as well as the susceptibility of several species to experimental infection with this virus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fereidoon Shahidi ◽  
Adriano Costa De Camargo

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that COVID-19 could be characterized as a pandemic in March 11, 2020. As for the food industry and related sectors, food safety and security were the first subject of concern.  Since there was no evidence that COVID-19 had any effect on food safety and security, the attention was changed to the potential of nutraceuticals and functional foods in positively affecting immunity in the context COVID-19. As for the feedstocks, our readership has shown a great deal of interest in fruits (e.g. pomegranate, grapes, berries, mushrooms, and soybean) and the industrial products thereof (e.g. wine, smoothies, miso), while lipids, peptides, and phenolic compounds were in the spotlight among the bioactive compounds. Considering the number of downloads of each paper, this report provides a cursory account of selected examples to illustrate the trends in food bioactives in the COVID-19 Pandemic Year.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document