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.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of Mieke Fraser (BCCDC), Gloria Yu (VIHA), Richard Greve (VIHA), Stephanie Bruvall (VIHA), Charlene MacKinnon (VIHA), Virginia Jorgensen (VCH), Serena Lai (VCH), Cicely Yang (VCH), Joyce Cheng (PHAC), Shiona Glass-Kaastra (PHAC), Emma Cumming (PHAC), Rashmi Narkar (McGill University), Victor Mah (Alberta Health), Alanna Fitzgerald-Husek (PHO), Public Health Ontario Provincial Laboratory, Toronto Public Health, York Region Health Service, Durham Region Health Department, CFIA Burnaby Laboratory, CFIA St-Hyacinthe Laboratory, CFIA Pacific Shellfish, and all CFIA Inspectors, Environmental Health Officers, and Medical Health Officers who were involved in case investigation. Outbreak team includes Enrico Buenaventura (Health Canada), Kelsie Dale (Alberta Health Services), Samara David (British Columbia Centre for Disease Control), Mohammed Elmufti (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), Katie Eloranta (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), Charmaine Enns (Vancouver Island Health Authority), Tara Hluchy (Alberta Health Services), Blair Holmes (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Lance Honish (Alberta Health Services), Corey Kan (Alberta Health Services), Kristen Kirby (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), Paul Kirkby (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), Stephanie Konrad (Public Health Agency of Canada), Gabrielle Kosmider (Department of Fisheries and Oceans), Amalia Martinez (Health Canada), Xiaoli Pang (Alberta Health Services), Jackie Plamondon (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), Frankie Tsang (BCCDC Public Health Laboratory), and Emilie Turgeon (Health Canada).
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Meghnath, K., Hasselback, P., McCormick, R. et al. Outbreaks of Norovirus and Acute Gastroenteritis Associated with British Columbia Oysters, 2016–2017. Food Environ Virol 11, 138–148 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-019-09374-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-019-09374-4