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Molecular Study of the Persistence of Infectious Human Norovirus on Food-Contact Surfaces

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of relative humidity (RH) and temperature on norovirus (NoV) persistence as infectious particles on food-contact surfaces such as stainless steel and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). For this purpose, a new method combining enzymatic digestion with molecular beacon-based NASBA targeting the ORF1-ORF2 domain was developed to discriminate between infectious and noninfectious NoV. Stainless steel and PVC disks were contaminated with known amounts of human NoV and kept for 56 days at 7 and 20°C at high (86% ± 4%) and low (30% ± 10%) RH. NoV retained its putative infectivity for 56 days on PVC and for 49 days on stainless steel at 7°C and for 7 and 28 days, respectively, at low and high RH at 20°C on both tested surfaces. These results confirm that NoV persists in an infective state on inert surfaces for long periods of time and consequently may cause illness. The new molecular approach to detecting infectious NoV on inert surfaces may provide valuable information for evaluating environmental surface decontamination strategies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Stephen Davids for critical reading of the manuscript. This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Nutraceutiques et des Aliments Fonctionnels, Université Laval, Quebec city, QC, G1K 7P4, Canada

    S. Lamhoujeb, I. Fliss, S. E. Ngazoa & J. Jean

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  1. S. Lamhoujeb
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  2. I. Fliss
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  3. S. E. Ngazoa
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  4. J. Jean
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Correspondence to J. Jean.

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Lamhoujeb, S., Fliss, I., Ngazoa, S.E. et al. Molecular Study of the Persistence of Infectious Human Norovirus on Food-Contact Surfaces. Food Environ Virol 1, 51–56 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-009-9010-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-009-9010-0

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