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Integrated Monitoring and Control of Foodborne Viruses

in European Food Supply Chains

Coordinator - Nigel Cook

Assistant Coordinator -Martin D'Agostino

Central Science Laboratory

Vice Coordinator - Franco Ruggeri

Istituto Superiore di Sanità

VITAL is a €3.87M EU-supported project which will provide Europe with a framework for monitoring and risk modeling, and procedures for control of foodborne virus contamination, which will be applicable to any virus, whether existing, emerging or re-emerging, that poses the danger of being transmitted by food.

Scientists will use advanced methods for virus detection throughout selected food supply chains from farm to market, to gather data on virus contamination of food and environmental sources which is suitable for quantitative viral risk assessment. Supply chains will be monitored for the presence of indicator viruses commonly found where faecal contamination has occurred.  These viruses can be distinguished into strains of human and animal origin, which will indicate contamination from a specific source.  Modeling tools will then be developed to define the quantitative viral risk for each scenario, and to assist in identifying the potential barriers against it.  Expert stakeholders from the food industry will provide information on existing control measures, evaluating the new scientific findings and communicating them to the food industry, to help produce food safety guidelines including viral hazard analyses.