Presence and Persistence of in Water: The Impact on Microbial Quality of Water and Food Safety.

ranks high among the pathogens causing foodborne disease outbreaks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contributed to about 53.4% of all foodborne disease outbreaks from 2006 to 2017, and approximately 32.7% of these foodborne outbreaks were associated with consumption of produce. Trace-back investigations have suggested that irrigation water may be a source of contamination of produce and a vehicle for transmission. Presence and persistence of have been reported in surface waters such as rivers, lakes, and ponds, while ground water in general offers better microbial quality for irrigation. To date, culture methods are still the gold standard for detection, isolation and identification of in foods and water. In addition to culture, other methods for the detection of in water include most probable number, immunoassay, and PCR. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the Produce Safety Rule (PSR) in January 2013 based on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which calls for more efforts toward enhancing and improving approaches for the prevention of foodborne outbreaks. In the PSR, agricultural water is defined as water used for in a way that is intended to, or likely to, contact covered produce, such as spray, wash, or irrigation. In summary, is frequently present in surface water, an important source of water for irrigation. An increasing evidence indicates irrigation water as a source (or a vehicle) for transmission of . This pathogen can survive in aquatic environments by a number of mechanisms, including entry into the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state and/or residing within free-living protozoa. As such, assurance of microbial quality of irrigation water is critical to curtail the produce-related foodborne outbreaks and thus enhance the food safety. In this review, we will discuss the presence and persistence of in water and the mechanisms uses to persist in the aquatic environment, particularly irrigation water, to better understand the impact on the microbial quality of water and food safety due to the presence of in the water environment.