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

Conducted as part of NoVAS

doi:10.1111/jam.15761

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

Conducted as part of NoVAS

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aims: Norovirus remains the most significant virological risk that is transmitted via food and the environment to cause acute gastroenteritis. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that the contamination of the commercial food production environment with norovirus will be higher in premises that have recently reported a foodborne norovirus outbreak than those that have not. Methods: Sampling of commercial food production environments was carried out across a 16-month period between January 2015 and April 2016 in the South East and the North West of England by local authority environmental health departments as part of routine surveillance visits to premises. A total of 2982 samples, 2038 virological and 944 bacteriological, were collected from 256 premises. Sixteen of these premises, six from South East and ten from North West England, were sampled as part of a public health outbreak investigation. Results & Conclusions: Overall, 2038 swabs were submitted for norovirus testing, with an average of eight swabs per premises (range 4 to 23) and a median of seven. Of the premises sampled, 11.7% (30/256) yielded at least one norovirus-positive sample (environmental, and/or food handler hand swab), and 2.5% of the swabs were positive for norovirus. A peak in the positivity rate was seen in the South East in April 2016. No associations were found between norovirus positivity and bacteriology indicators, or between bacteriology indicators and hygiene ratings. Significance and impact of study: This study demonstrates that food premises and food handlers remain a potential source of norovirus transmission and outbreaks.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3391-3403
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Applied Microbiology
Volume	133
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.15761
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency under FSA project FS101040: ‘Assessing the contribution made by the food chain to the burden of UK‐acquired norovirus infection (NoVAS)’. The authors would like to thank all the Local Authorities who supported the sampling undertaken in this study in the South East and North West of England and laboratory staff in the Food, Water and Environmental Microbiology Laboratories in London and Preston. The authors are grateful to Frieda Jørgensen, Ayoub Saei and Andre Charlett for discussions relating to statistical analysis. We also thank the NoVAS Consortium for helpful comments on the manuscript. The NoVAS Consortium comprises the University of Liverpool (Sarah O'Brien [PI], Miren Iturriza‐Gomara, Steven Williams and Natasha Lamb), the University of East Anglia (Paul Hunter, Jim Maas), Public Health England (David James Allen, Nicola Elviss, Andrew Fox), Fera Science Ltd. (Nigel Cook, Martin D'Agostino), Leatherhead Food Research (Angus Knight) and Cefas (David Lees, James Lowther).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Crown copyright and The Authors. Journal of Applied Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for Applied Microbiology. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

PCR (polymerase chain reaction)
environmental
food
molecular epidemiology
viruses

Access to Document

10.1111/jam.15761

Cite this

@article{9936bc1fbc804b94a853fa7ebbdeaf3e,

title = "Norovirus attribution study: Detection of norovirus from the commercial food preparation environment in outbreak and non-outbreak premises",

abstract = "Aims: Norovirus remains the most significant virological risk that is transmitted via food and the environment to cause acute gastroenteritis. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that the contamination of the commercial food production environment with norovirus will be higher in premises that have recently reported a foodborne norovirus outbreak than those that have not. Methods: Sampling of commercial food production environments was carried out across a 16-month period between January 2015 and April 2016 in the South East and the North West of England by local authority environmental health departments as part of routine surveillance visits to premises. A total of 2982 samples, 2038 virological and 944 bacteriological, were collected from 256 premises. Sixteen of these premises, six from South East and ten from North West England, were sampled as part of a public health outbreak investigation. Results \& Conclusions: Overall, 2038 swabs were submitted for norovirus testing, with an average of eight swabs per premises (range 4 to 23) and a median of seven. Of the premises sampled, 11.7\% (30/256) yielded at least one norovirus-positive sample (environmental, and/or food handler hand swab), and 2.5\% of the swabs were positive for norovirus. A peak in the positivity rate was seen in the South East in April 2016. No associations were found between norovirus positivity and bacteriology indicators, or between bacteriology indicators and hygiene ratings. Significance and impact of study: This study demonstrates that food premises and food handlers remain a potential source of norovirus transmission and outbreaks.",

keywords = "PCR (polymerase chain reaction), environmental, food, molecular epidemiology, viruses",

author = "\{Conducted as part of NoVAS\} and Elviss, \{Nicola C.\} and Allen, \{David J.\} and Daniel Kelly and Akello, \{Joyce Odeke\} and Sarah Hau and Fox, \{Andrew J.\} and Mark Hopkins and Jade Derrick and Sarah O'Brien and Miren Iturriza-Gomara",

note = "Funding Information: This work was funded by the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency under FSA project FS101040: {\textquoteleft}Assessing the contribution made by the food chain to the burden of UK‐acquired norovirus infection (NoVAS){\textquoteright}. The authors would like to thank all the Local Authorities who supported the sampling undertaken in this study in the South East and North West of England and laboratory staff in the Food, Water and Environmental Microbiology Laboratories in London and Preston. The authors are grateful to Frieda J{\o}rgensen, Ayoub Saei and Andre Charlett for discussions relating to statistical analysis. We also thank the NoVAS Consortium for helpful comments on the manuscript. The NoVAS Consortium comprises the University of Liverpool (Sarah O'Brien [PI], Miren Iturriza‐Gomara, Steven Williams and Natasha Lamb), the University of East Anglia (Paul Hunter, Jim Maas), Public Health England (David James Allen, Nicola Elviss, Andrew Fox), Fera Science Ltd. (Nigel Cook, Martin D'Agostino), Leatherhead Food Research (Angus Knight) and Cefas (David Lees, James Lowther). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Crown copyright and The Authors. Journal of Applied Microbiology published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for Applied Microbiology. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1111/jam.15761",

language = "English",

volume = "133",

pages = "3391--3403",

journal = "Journal of Applied Microbiology",

issn = "1364-5072",

publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Inc",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Norovirus attribution study

T2 - Detection of norovirus from the commercial food preparation environment in outbreak and non-outbreak premises

AU - Conducted as part of NoVAS

AU - Elviss, Nicola C.

AU - Allen, David J.

AU - Kelly, Daniel

AU - Akello, Joyce Odeke

AU - Hau, Sarah

AU - Fox, Andrew J.

AU - Hopkins, Mark

AU - Derrick, Jade

AU - O'Brien, Sarah

AU - Iturriza-Gomara, Miren

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency under FSA project FS101040: ‘Assessing the contribution made by the food chain to the burden of UK‐acquired norovirus infection (NoVAS)’. The authors would like to thank all the Local Authorities who supported the sampling undertaken in this study in the South East and North West of England and laboratory staff in the Food, Water and Environmental Microbiology Laboratories in London and Preston. The authors are grateful to Frieda Jørgensen, Ayoub Saei and Andre Charlett for discussions relating to statistical analysis. We also thank the NoVAS Consortium for helpful comments on the manuscript. The NoVAS Consortium comprises the University of Liverpool (Sarah O'Brien [PI], Miren Iturriza‐Gomara, Steven Williams and Natasha Lamb), the University of East Anglia (Paul Hunter, Jim Maas), Public Health England (David James Allen, Nicola Elviss, Andrew Fox), Fera Science Ltd. (Nigel Cook, Martin D'Agostino), Leatherhead Food Research (Angus Knight) and Cefas (David Lees, James Lowther). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Crown copyright and The Authors. Journal of Applied Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for Applied Microbiology. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Aims: Norovirus remains the most significant virological risk that is transmitted via food and the environment to cause acute gastroenteritis. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that the contamination of the commercial food production environment with norovirus will be higher in premises that have recently reported a foodborne norovirus outbreak than those that have not. Methods: Sampling of commercial food production environments was carried out across a 16-month period between January 2015 and April 2016 in the South East and the North West of England by local authority environmental health departments as part of routine surveillance visits to premises. A total of 2982 samples, 2038 virological and 944 bacteriological, were collected from 256 premises. Sixteen of these premises, six from South East and ten from North West England, were sampled as part of a public health outbreak investigation. Results & Conclusions: Overall, 2038 swabs were submitted for norovirus testing, with an average of eight swabs per premises (range 4 to 23) and a median of seven. Of the premises sampled, 11.7% (30/256) yielded at least one norovirus-positive sample (environmental, and/or food handler hand swab), and 2.5% of the swabs were positive for norovirus. A peak in the positivity rate was seen in the South East in April 2016. No associations were found between norovirus positivity and bacteriology indicators, or between bacteriology indicators and hygiene ratings. Significance and impact of study: This study demonstrates that food premises and food handlers remain a potential source of norovirus transmission and outbreaks.

AB - Aims: Norovirus remains the most significant virological risk that is transmitted via food and the environment to cause acute gastroenteritis. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that the contamination of the commercial food production environment with norovirus will be higher in premises that have recently reported a foodborne norovirus outbreak than those that have not. Methods: Sampling of commercial food production environments was carried out across a 16-month period between January 2015 and April 2016 in the South East and the North West of England by local authority environmental health departments as part of routine surveillance visits to premises. A total of 2982 samples, 2038 virological and 944 bacteriological, were collected from 256 premises. Sixteen of these premises, six from South East and ten from North West England, were sampled as part of a public health outbreak investigation. Results & Conclusions: Overall, 2038 swabs were submitted for norovirus testing, with an average of eight swabs per premises (range 4 to 23) and a median of seven. Of the premises sampled, 11.7% (30/256) yielded at least one norovirus-positive sample (environmental, and/or food handler hand swab), and 2.5% of the swabs were positive for norovirus. A peak in the positivity rate was seen in the South East in April 2016. No associations were found between norovirus positivity and bacteriology indicators, or between bacteriology indicators and hygiene ratings. Significance and impact of study: This study demonstrates that food premises and food handlers remain a potential source of norovirus transmission and outbreaks.

KW - PCR (polymerase chain reaction)

KW - environmental

KW - food

KW - molecular epidemiology

KW - viruses

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85137875047

U2 - 10.1111/jam.15761

DO - 10.1111/jam.15761

M3 - Article

C2 - 35929369

AN - SCOPUS:85137875047

SN - 1364-5072

VL - 133

SP - 3391

EP - 3403

JO - Journal of Applied Microbiology

JF - Journal of Applied Microbiology

IS - 6

ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this