February 24. 2004The first meeting of the project entitled "Seafood: Enhanced assessment of bacterial associated contamination" was held in London on 23 February 2004. The meeting reviewed the project plans and agreed the work programme for the coming months. The project will build on the expertise and recent work of the participants. The need for interaction with other projects within and outside of Seafood Plus was highlighted.
Vibrios are a major cause of seafood-associated illness worldwide and concerns relating to these bacteria cover both the public health implications for the consumer and the effects of import controls on trade. The primary aim of the project entitled "Seafood: Enhanced assessment of bacterial associated contamination" is to develop standardised techniques to detect and characterise pathogenic vibrios in order to facilitate future assessment of health risks presented to European consumers by these organisms.
- Review of existing conventional and molecular methods for the detection of Vibrio spp in seafoods
- Development of rapid simple molecular based methods to detect and enumerate total and potentially pathogenic Vibrio spp directly in seafoods
- Development of real time PCR methods for detection and enumeration of pathogenic Vibrio spp
- Development and application of molecular characterisation methods pathogenic Vibrio spp isolated from seafoods
The meeting reviewed the work plans for each of these areas with particular emphasis on the first 18 months of the project. Much of the early work will be focused towards the second meeting to be held in Copenhagen in October where a number of key decisions will be taken. The need for strong co-operation between the different areas of work was emphasized, as was the need to interact closely with other projects within and outside of SEAFOOD plus.
