Norovirus GII.17 Associated with a Foodborne Acute Gastroenteritis Outbreak in Brazil, 2016

Foodborne transmission gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreak occurred during a celebration lunch in July, 2016, Brazil. All stool samples tested were positive for noroviruses (NoV) and phylogenetic analysis revealed that strains were genetically close to GII.17 Kawasaki_2014. These findings indicated circulation of NoV GII.17 Kawasaki_2014 in the Brazilian population, associated with AGE outbreak.     

Secretor Status is Associated with Susceptibility to Disease in a Large GII.6 Norovirus Foodborne Outbreak

Food and Environmental Virology - Norovirus is commonly associated with food and waterborne outbreaks. Genetic susceptibility to norovirus is largely dependent on presence of histo-blood group...     

The Presence of Norovirus and Adenovirus on Environmental Surfaces in Relation to the Hygienic Level in Food Service Operations Associated with a Suspected Gastroenteritis Outbreak

Norovirus (NoV) gastroenteritis outbreaks appear frequently in food service operations (FSOs), such as in restaurants and canteens. In this study the presence of NoV and adenovirus (AdV) genomes was investigated on the surfaces of premises, especially in kitchens, of 30 FSOs where foodborne gastroenteritis outbreaks were suspected. The objective was to establish a possible association between the presence of virus genomes on surfaces and a visual hygienic status of the FSOs. NoV genome was found in 11 and AdV genome in 8 out of 30 FSOs. In total, 291 swabs were taken, of which 8.9% contained NoV and 5.8% AdV genome. The presence of NoV genomes on the surfaces was not found to associate with lower hygiene level of the premises when based on visual inspection; most (7/9) of the FSOs with NoV contamination on surfaces and a completed evaluation form had a good hygiene level (the best category). Restaurants had a significantly lower proportion of NoV-positive swabs compared to other FSOs (canteens, cafeteria, schools etc.) taken together (p = 0.00014). The presence of a designated break room for the workers was found to be significantly more common in AdV-negative kitchens (p = 0.046). Our findings suggest that swabbing is necessary for revealing viral contamination of surfaces and emphasis of hygiene inspections should be on the food handling procedures, and the education of food workers on virus transmission.     

Detection and Typing of Norovirus from Frozen Strawberries Involved in a Large-Scale Gastroenteritis Outbreak in Germany

During September/October 2012, a norovirus gastroenteritis outbreak affecting about 11,000 people occurred in Germany. Epidemiological studies suggested that frozen strawberries represented the vehicle of infection. We describe here the analysis of frozen strawberries for the presence of norovirus. Samples were taken by applying a stratified subsampling scheme. Two different methods for virus extraction from strawberries were compared. First, viruses were eluted from strawberries under alkaline conditions and concentrated using a polyethylene glycol precipitation. Second, ultrafiltration was applied for concentration of viruses rinsed off of the berries. In both cases, RNA was extracted and analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. Application of the ultrafiltration method generally resulted in a lower detection rate. Noroviruses were detected in 7/11 samples derived from the lot of strawberries implicated in the outbreak using the precipitation method. Typing of norovirus revealed three different genotypes including a combination of norovirus genotype II.16 (viral polymerase) and II.13 (viral capsid). This genotype combination was also found in some of the patients that were involved in the outbreak, but that had not been reported in Germany so far. In conclusion, heterogeneously distributed noroviruses in frozen strawberries can be detected by applying an optimized combination of sampling procedures, virus extraction methods, and real-time RT-PCR protocols. The detection of several different genotypes in the strawberries may suggest contamination from sewage rather than from a single infected food handler.     

南方某水厂处理工艺过程中内分泌干扰物的变化规律

对南方某水厂处理工艺过程中内分泌干扰效应进行了研究.将水源水和各处理工艺的出水用固相萃取方法富集后,按不同极性洗脱,得到从非极性到极性3个组分,对总提取物和各分级富集组分分别进行重组基因酵母检测.探讨了该水厂不同处理工艺过程中内分泌干扰物的变化规律.结果表明:水源水中该类污染物浓度最高,相当于0.25 pmol/L雌二醇当量,主要存在于非极性组分(正己烷洗脱组分)中.各处理工艺段水样都存在一定程度的内分泌干扰物效应.经处理后,非极性组分内分泌干扰物效应降低,极性组分内分泌干扰物效应逐渐增加,但总地内分泌干扰物效应逐渐递减,现有工艺对雌激素类物质有较好的去除效果,去除率达到83%.研究表明,重组基因酵母检测技术结合水样的固相萃取、三步纯化分级前处理方法可以快速、有效地筛选和定量分析水样中未知内分泌干扰物及其总体效应.     

Norovirus Foodborne Outbreak Associated With the Consumption of Ice Pop,Southern Brazil, 2020

Food and Environmental Virology - Norovirus is a major cause of foodborne-associated acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks worldwide. Usually, food products are contaminated either during...     

Prevalence of GII.4 Sydney Norovirus Strains and Associated Factors of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children: 2019/2020 Season in Guangzhou,China

Food and Environmental Virology - Norovirus, the leading cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis (AGE) worldwide, is constantly mutating. Continuous monitoring of the evolution of epidemic...     

Lessons from Norovirus Outbreak in Warsaw,Poland, December 2012

Efficient foodborne outbreak investigations are important for identification of gaps in food safety and public health practice. This article reports on an investigation of a gastroenteritis outbreak linked to catering food following a Christmas reception at the National Institute of Public Health-National Institute of Hygiene (NIPH-NIH) in Warsaw in December 2012. Of 192 employees eating food at the catering event, 97 (50.5 %) developed symptoms. Persons eating dishes with recipes containing frozen carrots were five times more likely to develop gastrointestinal symptoms compared to those who did not eat carrots. Laboratory analysis identified norovirus in stool samples taken from symptomatic persons. Leftover food was not available for testing. The investigators did not collect stool specimens from food handlers and did not conduct trace backs for the suspected food ingredients. This investigation underlines the need for a revision of an existing procedures and importance of their complementation with detailed instructions for the local public health authorities for effective completion of foodborne outbreaks investigations in Poland.     

Enteric Viruses in a Large Waterborne Outbreak of Acute Gastroenteritis in Finland

In Nokia city about 450,000 l of treated sewage water was for 2 days allowed to run into the drinking water supplies of the city due to a personal error of one employee. Within the next 5 weeks about 1,000 people sought care at the municipal health centre or regional hospital because of gastroenteritis. Here we report the results of viral analyses performed by gene amplification assays from the earliest water and sewage samples as well as from close to 300 patient samples. The contaminating treated sewage was shown to harbour several enteric viruses known to cause acute gastroenteritis. Likewise, the drinking water sample was positive for noro-, astro-, rota-, entero- and adenoviruses. Noroviruses were also found in 29.8% of stool samples from affected patients, while astro-, adeno-, rota- and enteroviruses were detected in 19.7, 18.2, 7.5 and 3.7% of the specimens, respectively. An erratum to this article can be found at     

我国生活饮用水水源保护区的问题研究

我国从 1 984年开始立法建立生活饮用水水源保护区 ,问题很多 ,一方面是现有水源保护区不成功 ,另一方面是水源保护区数量太少。本文运用中外比较研究方法 ,就我国水源保护区的划定划分与政策进行了讨论。     

我国饮用水安全性研究现状

当前中国存在环境污染的加剧、净水工艺的滞后等问题,导致各类饮用水生产过程中存在不安全因素,评价方法还不能充分反映水质.必须加强水资源管理、改善水质净化技术、提高供水各环节的管理水平,以确保消费者饮水安全,在此基础上建立更加科学的安全性指标.     

中国城市饮用水法的历史发展及其启示

近年来中国城市饮用水事件频发,威胁着城市饮用水安全,直接关系着公民的生命权和健康权.然而,中国有关城市饮用水的规定散见于相关法律、行政法规及环境、水利、卫生、建设等部门制定的规章中,还没有一部完整意义上的城市饮用水法.城市饮用水法历经四个历史阶段的发展,仍然只关注于城市饮用水某个阶段的发展.因此,城市饮用水法应加强城市饮用水各个阶段的管理,建立城市饮用水全过程控制法律制度.     

我国典型地区饮水中致突变性表征

报道上海,昆明,哈尔滨、沈阳、广州、武汉和深圳等城市自来水的致突变性特征,以及上述城市自来水厂源水及其氯化源水致突变性的比较研究。发现７城市自来水中均含有移码型直接致突变物。ＴＡ９８菌株是最敏感的监测菌株。另外,按水样比活性和沈集物比活性和沈集物比活性为指标,则上海,昆明,哈尔滨、沈阳、广州和武汉等６城市自来水厂氯化源水对ＴＡ９８和ＴＡ１００２菌株的致突变性均明显地高于源水,上海市尤为突出。该结果     

A One Year Study on the Concentrations of Norovirus and Enteric Adenoviruses in Wastewater and A Surface Drinking Water Source in Norway

Enteric viruses transmitted via the faecal-oral route occur in high concentrations in wastewater and may contaminate drinking water sources and cause disease. In order to quantify enteric adenovirus and norovirus genotypes I and II (GI and GII) impacting a drinking source in Norway, samples of surface water (52), wastewater inlet (64) and outlet (59) were collected between January 2011 and April 2012. Samples were concentrated in two steps, using an electropositive disc filter and polyethylene glycol precipitation, followed by nucleic acid extraction and analysis by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Virus was detected in 47/52 (90.4 %) of surface water, 59/64 (92 %) of wastewater inlet and 55/59 (93 %) of wastewater outlet samples. Norovirus GI occurred in the highest concentrations in surface water (2.51e + 04) and adenovirus in wastewater (2.15e + 07). While adenovirus was the most frequently detected in all matrices, norovirus GI was more frequently detected in surface water and norovirus GII in wastewater. This study is the first in Norway to monitor both sewage and a drinking water source in parallel, and confirms the year-round presence of norovirus and adenovirus in a Norwegian drinking water source.     

饮用水中的致突变有机物

本文介绍了氯处理饮用水中可能出现的致突变有机物及其形成的影响因素，并列举了国内外关于氯处理饮用水致突变性研究的一些例子，借以说明饮用水中可能存在的潜在危害，提出了一些可行的预防措施。     

我国北方某地区居民饮水暴露参数研究

饮水率是决定人体对水中污染物暴露和健康风险评估准确性的关键暴露参数之一,但我国至今没有其公开的调查结果,更未发布过与其相关的参数手册.采用问卷调查和实际测量的方法,对我国北方某地区城、乡2 500名居民的夏、秋季节直接饮水和食物间接饮水的特征进行了研究,并与国外情况进行了对比分析.结果表明:该地区男性、女性和全体被调查者饮水率平均值分别为2 852.8,2 586.4和2 720.5 mL/d,各年龄段居民的食物间接饮水率都明显大于直接饮水率,在总饮水率中间接饮水率所占比例平均值达到62.4%;全体被调查者直接饮水率比美国和日本分别高36.0%和54.0%.开展饮水健康风险评价时,应考虑城、乡人群的差异,且不可忽略间接饮用水的影响,采用国外的饮水率将可能增加风险的不确定性.