Loading...
Outbreaks of norovirus and acute gastroenteritis associated with British Columbia Oysters, 2016–2017
Meghnath, Kashmeera Hasselback, Paul McCormick, Rachel Prystajecky, Natalie Taylor, Marsha McIntyre, Lorraine Man, Stephanie Whitfield, Yvonne Warshawsky, Bryna McKinley, Michael
Meghnath, Kashmeera
Hasselback, Paul
McCormick, Rachel
Prystajecky, Natalie
Taylor, Marsha
McIntyre, Lorraine
Man, Stephanie
Whitfield, Yvonne
Warshawsky, Bryna
McKinley, Michael
Abstract
Two outbreaks of norovirus and acute gastroenteritis took place in Canada between November 2016 and April 2017. Both outbreaks were linked to oysters from British Columbia (BC) coastal waters. This paper describes the multi-agency investigations to identify the source and control the outbreak. Public health officials conducted interviews to determine case exposures. Traceback was conducted by collecting oyster tags from restaurants and analyzing them to determine the most common farms. Oyster samples were collected from case homes, restaurants, and harvest sites and tested for the presence of norovirus. Potential environmental pollution sources were investigated to identify the source of the outbreak. Four hundred and 49 cases were identified as part of the two outbreak waves. The oysters were traced to various geographically dispersed farms in BC coastal waters. Twelve farms were closed as a result of the investigations. No environmental pollution sources could be identified as the cause of the outbreak. Similarities in the timeframe, genotype, and geographic distribution of identified oyster farms indicate that they may have been one continuous event. Genotype data indicate that human sewage contamination was the likely cause of the outbreak, although no pollution source was identified.
Keywords
norovirus, oysters, outbreak, foodborne
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Food and Environmental Virology
Book
Volume
11
Issue
2
Page Range
138-148
Article Number
ACU Department
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled
Notes
© UK Crown 2019.