Human adenovirus, mesophilic bacteria and fungi in puppies’ food marketed in bulk in southern Brazil

ABSTRACT

Background: The Brazilian domestic canine population are the second largest in the world and their feeding means 0.4%of the Brazilian gross domestic product. For maintaining the quality of the food, the companies use worldwide standardsfor technical prevention and control of contaminants and biological conservation. The packaging is part of this process,since it provides a barrier between food and environment. However, in Brazil, packagings are often opened in retail storesfor bulk marketing. The objectives of this work were to develop a methodology to detect viruses in foods and to analyzethe bacterial and fungal contamination in puppies’ food sold in bulk in Ivoti and Estância Velha, cities in Southern Brazil.Materials, Methods & Results: Twenty samples collected between September and October 2016 were analyzed for mostprobable number of coliforms, Salmonella sp., mesophilic aerobic bacteria and yeast/mold following the regulation of theBrazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply guidelines. They were also tested for Human MastadenovirusC (HAdV), Canine Mastadenovirus A (CAdV), and Carnivore Protoparvovirus 1 (CPV) genomes. Viral analysis wereperformed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection. During the collection of the samples hygienic-sanitary conditions, storage of feeds, animals’ access, dog grooming, and veterinary care were considered to evaluate the conditions ofeach store. A pilot study was carried out using one food sample marketed in bulk and one sample from the original package(closed package) and testing them for bacterial and fungal contamination for standardizing viral detection. Ten grams offood from the original package were mixed with 90 mL of Eagles’ Minimal Essential Medium (E-MEM) in 100 mL sterilebottles. These bottles were kept in room temperature and shaken for 60 min. Subsequently, aliquots were obtained by sequentially diluting the sample (10-2 to 10-4)...