Prevalence of enteric pathogens in shellfish in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea

Sinafa Robby; Monalisa P. Kas; Kevin Soli; Glennis Rai; Andrew R. Greenhill; Lloyd Werry; Stephanie Tringin; Kathleen Diapong; Aisak Pue; William Pomat; Kari Iamba; Paul F. Horwood; Mohammad Yazid Abdad

doi:10.1071/MJ21003

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Prevalence of enteric pathogens in shellfish in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea

Sinafa Robby ^A ^B ^* , Monalisa P. Kas ^A , Kevin Soli ^A , Glennis Rai ^A , Andrew R. Greenhill ^A ^C , Lloyd Werry ^B , Stephanie Tringin ^B , Kathleen Diapong ^B , Aisak Pue ^B , William Pomat ^A , Kari Iamba ^B , Paul F. Horwood ^A ^D and Mohammad Yazid Abdad ^A ^D ^E ^F

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

^B Animal Science Department, Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment, Private Mail Bag, Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea.

^C Microbiology and Fermentation Technology Institute of Innovation, Science and Sustainability, Federation University, Office 218, Building 2W, Gippsland Campus, PO Box 3191, Gippsland Mail Centre, Vic 3841, Australia.

^D Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

^E Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, New Richards Building, Old Road Campus, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7LG, UK.

^F Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, BKK 10400, Thailand.

^* Correspondence to: sinafa.robby@gmail.com

Handling Editors: Andrew Collins and William Pomat

Papua New Guinea Medical Journal 64, MJ21003 https://doi.org/10.1071/MJ21003

Submitted: 25 February 2022 Accepted: 31 March 2023 Published: 25 November 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Medical Society of Papua New Guinea. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Shellfish are natural reservoirs for enteric pathogens and are an important food source for some coastal communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Little is known about the food safety of shellfish in PNG. Salmonella spp. and Vibrio cholerae are common enteric pathogens known to cause moderate to severe gastrointestinal illnesses in humans, and there is a lack of information on the prevalence of these important bacterial pathogens in shellfish in PNG. The aim of this study was to gain preliminary data on the prevalence of these enteric pathogens in edible shellfish. A total of 400 shellfish samples were collected in estuarine habitats of Madang Province and screened for Salmonella spp. and V. cholerae by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), yielding 0/400 (0%) and 17/400 (4.25%) positives, respectively. Further testing revealed that none of the V. cholerae detected in this study was a toxigenic strain, however the result does not necessarily indicate that there is no risk of cholera infections. Further investigation is warranted. This study provides the first detection of V. cholerae in shellfish in PNG and highlights the potential public health concerns of these natural reservoirs for enteric pathogens.

Keywords: clam, edible shellfish, gastrointestinal pathogens, mussel, real-time PCR, Salmonella spp., Vibrio cholerae.

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