Esseili Laboratory for Food Virology

Description of Research Interests

Understanding the molecular ecology of human noroviruses and emerging viral pathogens. 

Publications                                                                                                                                                                            

(2019 - present)

Morris JN, Esseili MA. 2024. Screening commercial tea for rapid inactivation of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in saliva. Food Environ Virol. 16(2):159-170. doi: 10.1007/s12560-023-09581-0. Epub 2024 Jan 31. PMID: 38294673

Narwankar R, Esseili MA. 2024. Replication of human norovirus in human intestinal enteroids is affected by fecal sample processing. Viruses. 16(2):241. doi: 10.3390/v16020241. PMID: 38400017Kassem II, Wang J, Gorbani Tajani A, Esseili MA, Hassan J, Yassine I, Osman M, Bisha B. 2024. Draft genome sequences of antibiotic-resistant Serratia and Enterobacter species isolated from imported fresh produce in Georgia, USA. Microbiol Resour Announc. 13(6):e0113923. doi: 10.1128/mra.01139-23. Epub 2024 May 2. PMID: 38695584

Hooda R, Esseili MA. 2024. Human norovirus surrogate is highly stable in berry smoothies and under in vitro simulated digestion. Foods. 13(7):1066. doi: 10.3390/foods13071066. PMID: 38611370 Free PMC article.

Esseili MA. 2023. Great escape: how infectious SARS-CoV-2 avoids inactivation by gastric acidity and intestinal bile.  Gut. 2023 Apr;72(4):808-810. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2021-326624.

Esseili MA. 2023.In vitro digestion of SARS-CoV-2 contaminated berries reveals high inactivation of infectious virus during gastrointestinal passage. Appl Environ Microbiol. e0133923. doi: 10.1128/aem.01339-23.

Kassem II, Osman M, Hassan J, Sulaiman AA, Mann D, Esseili MA, Naas T, Deng X. 2023. First report of the mobile colistin resistance gene, mcr-1.26, in multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from retail chicken meat. J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 34:176-178. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2023.07.005.

Morris JN, Esseili MA. 2023. Efficacy of peracetic acid and sodium hypochlorite against SARS-CoV-2 on contaminated surfaces. Appl Environ Microbiol. 89(7):e0062223. doi: 10.1128/aem.00622-23.

Morris JN, Esseili MA. 2023. The Effect of water hardness and ph on the efficacy of peracetic acid and sodium hypochlorite against SARS-CoV-2 on Food-Contact Surfaces. Foods. 12(16):2981. doi: 10.3390/foods12162981.

Esseili, MA, Mann A, Narwankar R, Kassem II, Diez-Gonzalez F, Hogan J. 2022. SARS-CoV-2 remains infectious for at least a month on artificially-contaminated frozen berries. Food Microbiol. 107:104084. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2022.104084. 

Hassan J, Esseili MA, Mann D, Osman M, Li S, Deng X, Kassem II. 2022. Draft genome sequences of antibiotic-resistant Serratia sp. strains isolated from raw sewage and sediment sludge in Georgia, USA. Microbiol Resour Announc.11(12):e0096522. doi: 10.1128/mra.00965-22. Epub 2022 Nov 16. PMID: 36383023; PMCID: PMC9753650. 

Kassem II, Hassan J, Esseili MA, Mann D, Osman M, Li S, Deng X. 2022. Draft genome sequences of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from river water. Microbiol Resour Announc. e0082722. doi: 10.1128/mra.00827-22. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36222705. 

Esseili MA, Gao X, Boley P, Hou Y, Saif LJ, Brewer-Jensen P, Lindesmith LC, Baric RS, Atmar RL, Wang Q. 2019.   Human Norovirus histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) binding sites mediate the virus specific interactions with lettuce carbohydrates. Viruses. 11(9). pii: E833. doi: 10.3390/v11090833 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/9/833