» Articles » PMID: 21378056

Year-round Prevalence of Norovirus in the Environment of Catering Companies Without a Recently Reported Outbreak of Gastroenteritis

Overview
Date 2011 Mar 8
PMID 21378056
Citations 22
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Food handlers play an important role in the transmission of norovirus (NoV) in food-borne outbreaks of gastroenteritis (GE). In a year-round prevalence study, the prevalence of NoV in catering companies without recently reported outbreaks of GE was investigated and compared to the observed prevalence in catering companies with recently reported outbreaks. Swab samples were collected from surfaces in the kitchens and (staff) bathrooms in 832 randomly chosen companies and analyzed for the presence of NoV RNA. In total, 42 (1.7%) out of 2,496 environmental swabs from 35 (4.2%) catering companies tested positive. In contrast, NoV was detected in 147 (39.7%) of the 370 samples for 44 (61.1%) of the 72 establishments associated with outbreaks of gastroenteritis. NoV-positive swabs were more frequently found in winter, in specific types of companies (elderly homes and lunchrooms), and in establishments with separate bathrooms for staff. We found a borderline association with population density but no relation to the number of employees. Sequence analysis showed that environmental strains were interspersed with strains found in outbreaks of illness in humans. Thus, the presence of NoV in catering companies seemed to mirror the presence in the population but was strongly increased when associated with food-borne GE. Swabs may therefore serve as a valuable tool in outbreak investigations for the identification of the causative agent, although results should be interpreted with care, taking into account all other epidemiological data.

Citing Articles

Norovirus attribution study: Detection of norovirus from the commercial food preparation environment in outbreak and non-outbreak premises.

Elviss N, Allen D, Kelly D, Akello J, Hau S, Fox A J Appl Microbiol. 2022; 133(6):3391-3403.

PMID: 35929369 PMC: 9826197. DOI: 10.1111/jam.15761.


Hygienic monitoring in long-term care facilities using ATP, crAssphage, and human noroviruses to direct environmental surface cleaning.

Cannon J, Park G, Anderson B, Leone C, Chao M, Vinje J Am J Infect Control. 2022; 50(3):289-294.

PMID: 35184878 PMC: 8903150. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.11.014.


The efficacy of different sanitizers against MS2 bacteriophage introduced onto plastic or stainless steel surfaces.

Chen L, Lee W, Ma Y, Jang S, Fong K, Wang S Curr Res Food Sci. 2022; 5:175-181.

PMID: 35072105 PMC: 8761864. DOI: 10.1016/j.crfs.2022.01.004.


Association of environmental surface contamination with hand hygiene and infections in nursing homes: a prospective cohort study.

Teesing G, de Graaf M, Petrignani M, Erasmus V, Klaassen C, Schapendonk C Infect Prev Pract. 2021; 3(2):100129.

PMID: 34368746 PMC: 8335935. DOI: 10.1016/j.infpip.2021.100129.


Recovery of Infectious Human Norovirus GII.4 Sydney From Fomites Replication in Human Intestinal Enteroids.

Overbey K, Zachos N, Coulter C, Jacangelo J, Schwab K Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021; 11:693090.

PMID: 34307195 PMC: 8294327. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.693090.


References
1.
Edmonds J . Efficient methods for large-area surface sampling of sites contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and other hazardous agents: current state, needs, and perspectives. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2009; 84(5):811-6. DOI: 10.1007/s00253-009-2136-z. View

2.
Siebenga J, Beersma M, Vennema H, van Biezen P, Hartwig N, Koopmans M . High prevalence of prolonged norovirus shedding and illness among hospitalized patients: a model for in vivo molecular evolution. J Infect Dis. 2008; 198(7):994-1001. DOI: 10.1086/591627. View

3.
Boxman I, Dijkman R, Verhoef L, Maat A, van Dijk G, Vennema H . Norovirus on swabs taken from hands illustrate route of transmission: a case study. J Food Prot. 2009; 72(8):1753-5. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-72.8.1753. View

4.
Koopmans M . Noroviruses in healthcare settings: a challenging problem. J Hosp Infect. 2009; 73(4):331-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2009.06.028. View

5.
Mounts A, Ando T, Koopmans M, Bresee J, Noel J, Glass R . Cold weather seasonality of gastroenteritis associated with Norwalk-like viruses. J Infect Dis. 2000; 181 Suppl 2:S284-7. DOI: 10.1086/315586. View