A One-Year Systematic Study to Assess the Microbiological Profile in Oysters from a Commercial Harvesting Area in Portugal

• Published in: Microorganisms
• Main Authors: Inês C. Rodrigues, Nânci Santos-Ferreira, Daniela Silva, Carla Chiquelho da Silva, Ângela S. Inácio, Maria São José Nascimento, Paulo Martins da Costa
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2023
• Subjects: oyster; farming waters; Escherichia coli; salmonella; antimicrobial resistance; norovirus; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Mira; Pacific; Crassostrea gigas; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11020338; https://doaj.org/article/9d31fcd44582450bbddb08da2ed22886

As filter-feeding animals farmed in water bodies exposed to anthropogenic influences, oysters can be both useful bioremediators and high-risk foodstuffs, considering that they are typically consumed raw. Understanding the dynamic of bacterial and viral load in Pacific oyster ( Crassostrea gigas ) tissues, hemolymph, outer shell surface biofilm, and farming water is therefore of great importance for microbiological risk assessment. A one-year survey of oysters collected from a class B production area (Canal de Mira, on the Portuguese western coast) revealed that these bivalve mollusks have a good depurating capacity with regard to bacteria, as Salmonella spp. and viable enterococci were not detected in any oyster flesh (edible portion) samples, despite the fact that these bacteria have regularly been found in the farming waters. Furthermore, the level of Escherichia coli contamination was clearly below the legal limit in oysters reared in a class B area (>230–≤4600 MPN E. coli /100 g). On the contrary, norovirus was repeatedly detected in the digestive glands of oysters sampled in autumn, winter, and spring. However, their presence in farming waters was only detected during winter.