Research Publications (Food Safety)

Norovirus is the most common etiology of diarrheal illness globally, causing both sporadic and epidemic infection. It is responsible for more than 200 000 deaths annually, primarily in children under 5 years of age in developing countries, and economic costs are estimated to be more than $64 billion annually [1, 2].

Background Norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide, yet there is limited information on homotypic or heterotypic protection following natural infection to guide vaccine development. Methods A total of 6020 stools collected from 299 Peruvian children between 2010 and 2014 were tested by norovirus real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction followed by sequence-based genotyping.

Enteric viruses, such as human norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV), are the major causes of foodborne illnesses worldwide. These viruses have low infectious dose, and may remain infectious for weeks in the environment and food. Limited information is available regarding viral survival and transmission in low-moisture foods (LMF). LMFs are generally considered as ready-to-eat products, which undergo no or minimal pathogen reduction steps.

Contaminated salted shellfish were a suspected cause of the 2019 hepatitis A outbreak in Korea; however, no virus was detected in the shellfish by the virus detection tests used. In this study, we investigated the shortcomings of these detection tests for identifying hepatitis A virus in salted shellfish to serve as a guide for improvement of these tests. Salted shellfish were washed and desalted before collecting the mid‐guts for testing.

C. P. Mattison et al. During 2009–2018, four adenovirus, 10 astrovirus, 123 rotavirus, and 107 sapovirus gastroenteritis outbreaks were reported to the US National Outbreak Reporting System (annual median 30 outbreaks). Most were attributable to person-to-person transmission in long-term care facilities, daycares, and schools. Investigations of norovirus-negative gastroenteritis outbreaks should include testing for these viruses.

In addition to providing maximal nutritional value for neonatal growth and development, human milk functions as an early defense mechanism against invading pathogens. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which are abundant in human milk, are a diverse group of heterogeneous carbohydrates with wide ranging protective effects. In addition to promoting the colonization of beneficial intestinal flora, HMOs serve as decoy receptors, effectively blocking the attachment of pathogenic bacteria.

Genetic recombination plays a pivotal role in the appearance of human norovirus recombinants that cause global epidemics. However, the factors responsible for the appearance of these recombinants remains largely unknown. In this study, we revealed a selective pressure that restricts parental combinations leading to the emergence of norovirus recombinants.

Author(s): Kattareeya Kumthip, Pattara Khamrin, Hiroshi Ushijima, Niwat Maneekarn

Author(s): Yi-Ming Huang, Wei-Chih Chang, Chuan-Liang Hsu

ABSTRACT

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are a major cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis in all age groups worldwide. HuNoVs can be detected in vitro using molecular assays such as RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. However, these molec...

Author(s): Mohamad Eshaghi Gorji, Malcolm Tan Turk Hsern, Dan Li

Cabbage Kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food, has occasionally been related to acute gastroenteritis caused by human norovirus (HuNoV). The present study examined the inhibitory effects of electron beam (e‐beam) irradiation (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 kGy) on HuNoV GII.4 in suspension or cabbage Kimchi using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction combined with immunomagnetic separation (IMS/RT‐qPCR).

During the 2014–2018 seasons, we conducted a longitudinal study involving enteric virus surveillance in bivalves, including natural oysters and clams harvested in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Some norovirus (NoV) contaminations were detected in natural oysters, while no enteric virus was found in clams. NoV detected in oysters were of the genotypes GII.4 and GII.6, which are closely related genetically to the NoV strains prevalent in humans.

ABSTRACT

Author(s): Takako Utsumi, Maria Inge Lusida, Zayyin Dinana, Rury Mega Wahyuni, Soegeng Soegijanto, Soetjipto, Alpha Fardah Athiyyah, Subijanto Marto Sudarmo, Reza Gunadi Ranuh, Andy Darma, Juniastuti, Laura Navika Yamani, Yen Hai Doan, Hiroyuki Shimizu, Koji Ishii, Chieko Matsui, Lin Deng, Takayuki Abe, Kazuhiko Katayama, Ikuo Shoji

Human noroviruses are a major cause for gastroenteritis outbreaks. Filter-feeding bivalve molluscs, which accumulate noroviruses in their digestive tissues, are a typical vector for human infection. RT-qPCR, the established method for human norovirus detection in food, does not allow discrimination between infectious and non-infectious viruses and can overestimate potentially infectious viral loads.

Author(s): J. Ortiz-Solà, I. Abadias, P. Colàs-Medà, M. Anguera, I. Viñas

M. Chan et al. We report a new norovirus GII.4 variant, GII.4 Hong Kong, with low-level circulation in 4 Eurasia countries since mid-2017. Amino acid substitutions in key residues on the virus capsid associated with the emergence of pandemic noroviruses suggest that GII.4 Hong Kong has the potential to become the next pandemic variant.

Noroviruses (NoV), rotaviruses (RVA), and adenoviruses (AdV) are the main viral agents responsible for acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in humans. We aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of four commercial immunochromatographic tests (ICTs) intended for the rapid and simultaneous detection of these three pathogens.

Human sapoviruses (HuSaVs) cause acute gastroenteritis similar to human noroviruses. Although HuSaVs were discovered four decades ago, no HuSaV has been grown in vitro, which has significantly impeded the understanding of viral biology and the development of antiviral strategies. In this study, we identified two susceptible human cell lines, that...

Characterizing diversity and the antigenic relatedness of norovirus remains a primary focus in understanding its biological properties and vaccine designs. The precise antigenic and serological features of GI genotypes have not been studied.

Background In the United States, surveillance of norovirus gastroenteritis is largely restricted to outbreaks, limiting our knowledge of the contribution of sporadic illness to the overall impact on reported outbreaks. Understanding norovirus transmission dynamics is vital for improving preventive measures, including norovirus vaccine development.

Influent wastewater and effluent wastewater at the Rya treatment plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, were continuously monitored for enteric viruses by quantitative PCR (qPCR) during 1 year. Viruses in effluent wastewater were also identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) in samples collected during spring, early summer, and winter. Samples of incoming wastewater were collected every second week.

Pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients often suffer from gastro-intestinal (GI) disease caused by viruses, Graft-versus-Host Disease (GVHD) or a combination of the two. Currently, the GI eukaryotic virome of HSCT recipients remains relatively understudied, which complicates the understanding of its role in GVHD pathogenicity.