Auteurs :
LE GUYADER F.⁽¹⁾, NEILL F.H.⁽¹⁾, DUBOIS E.⁽¹⁾, BON F.⁽¹⁾, LOISY F.⁽¹⁾, CAPRAIS M.P.⁽¹⁾, KOHLI E.⁽¹⁾, POMMEPUY M.⁽¹⁾, ATMAR R⁽¹⁾

Journal :
International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2003, vol. 87, 107-112.

Type :
Publication

Affiliation :
⁽¹⁾ Laboratoire de Microbiologie, IFREMER, Nantes, FRANCE

Résumé :
Gastroenteritis outbreaks linked to shellfish consumption are numerous and Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) are frequently the responsible causative agents. However, molecular data linking shellfish and clinical samples are still rare despite the availability of diagnostic methods. In a recent outbreak we found the same NLV sequence in stool and shellfish samples (100% identity over 313 bp in the capsid region), supporting the epidemiological data implicating the shellfish as the source of infection. A semiquantitative approach using most-probable-number- RT-PCR (MPN-RT-PCR) demonstrated the presence of a hundred of RT-PCR units per oyster. Follow-up of the oysters in the harvest area, for approximately 2 months, showed persistence of NLV contamination of the shellfish at levels up to a thousand RT-PCR units per oyster prior to depuration of the shellfish. This finding is useful in beginning to understand shellfish contamination and depuration for use in future hazard analyses.

Mots Clés :
Gastro-entérite, Mollusques, Virus de Norwalk, Réaction en Chaîne par Polymérase, RT-PCR, NLV