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A semiquantitative approach to estimate Norwalk-like virus contamination of oysters implicated in an outbreak
- Source :
- International Journal of Food Microbiology. 87:107-112
- Publication Year :
- 2003
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2003.
-
Abstract
- 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.
- Subjects :
- Oyster
animal structures
Food Contamination
medicine.disease_cause
Microbiology
Disease Outbreaks
Feces
biology.animal
medicine
Animals
Humans
Shellfish
biology
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Norovirus
technology, industry, and agriculture
food and beverages
Outbreak
General Medicine
Bivalvia
biology.organism_classification
Ostreidae
Virology
Caliciviridae
Gastroenteritis
Consumer Product Safety
Food Microbiology
Food Science
Food contaminant
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 01681605
- Volume :
- 87
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Food Microbiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6a6acced5dc001b95b9c8e440603cab2