A semiquantitative approach to estimate Norwalk-like virus contamination of oysters implicated in an outbreak

Gastroenteritis outbreaks linked to shellfish consumption are numerous and Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) are frequently the responsible causative agents. However, molecular data linking shellfish and clinical samples are still rare despite the availability of diagnostic methods. In a recent outbreak w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of food microbiology 2003-10, Vol.87 (1), p.107-112
Main Authors: Le Guyader, Françoise S., Neill, Frederick H., Dubois, Eric, Bon, Fabienne, Loisy, Fabienne, Kohli, Evelyne, Pommepuy, Monique, Atmar, Robert L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Consumer Product Safety
Disease Outbreaks
Feces - virology
Fish and seafood industries
Food Contamination - analysis
Food industries
Food Microbiology
food-borne diseases
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis - epidemiology
Gastroenteritis - virology
Humans
MPN-RT-PCR
NLV
Norovirus - isolation & purification
Norwalk-like virus
Ostreidae - virology
Outbreak
outbreaks
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Shellfish
Shellfish - virology
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Summary:Gastroenteritis outbreaks linked to shellfish consumption are numerous and Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) are frequently the responsible causative agents. However, molecular data linking shellfish and clinical samples are still rare despite the availability of diagnostic methods. In a recent outbreak we found the same NLV sequence in stool and shellfish samples (100% identity over 313 bp in the capsid region), supporting the epidemiological data implicating the shellfish as the source of infection. A semiquantitative approach using most-probable-number-RT-PCR (MPN-RT-PCR) demonstrated the presence of a hundred of RT-PCR units per oyster. Follow-up of the oysters in the harvest area, for approximately 2 months, showed persistence of NLV contamination of the shellfish at levels up to a thousand RT-PCR units per oyster prior to depuration of the shellfish. This finding is useful in beginning to understand shellfish contamination and depuration for use in future hazard analyses.
ISSN:0168-1605
1879-3460
DOI:10.1016/S0168-1605(03)00058-8