First norovirus outbreaks associated with consumption of green seaweed (<i>Enteromorpha</i> spp.) in South Korea

Park, J. H.; Jeong, Hae Sook; Lee, J. S.; Lee, S. W.; Choi, Yeon Hwa; Choi, Seongju; Joo, In Sun; Kim, Y. R.; Park, Y. K.; Youn, Seung-Ki

doi:10.1017/s0950268814001332

Cited by 28 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Park et al. () indicated potential causes such as person‐to‐person transmission and water‐borne transmission (for example, contaminated water during farming or manufacturing), whereas Sakon et al. () noted that contamination most likely occurred during manufacturing.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the source of norovirus contaminated seaweed can be difficult to pinpoint. Park et al (2015) indicated potential causes such as person-to-person transmission and water-borne transmission (for example, contaminated water during farming or manufacturing), whereas Sakon et al (2018) noted that contamination most likely occurred during manufacturing. Park, Kang, and Ha (2016) observed that the antimicrobial effects of vinegar against pathogens such as norovirus resulted in about a 1-log reduction in green laver during cold storage.…”

Section: 323mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Food safety hazards in the European seaweed chain

Banach

Hil

Fels‐Klerx

2020

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seaweed is a source of protein that can help overcome the anticipated challenges of a growing world population and the current challenges for finding alternatives for animal proteins in the Western diet. Thus far, data on the safety of seaweed for feed and food purposes in the Western world are scattered. This study aimed to review the available knowledge on the presence of food safety hazards in seaweed, including factors influencing their presence, and to prioritize the hazards that may pose a risk to human health. Given current knowledge from the literature, data from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, and results from a stakeholder survey, 22 food safety hazards were ranked into major (4), moderate (5), and minor (13) hazards. Arsenic, cadmium, iodine, and Salmonella were identified as major hazards. Hazards, where data gaps exist, should be carefully assessed. These include pesticide residues, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, brominated flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals, marine biotoxins, allergens, micro‐ and nanoplastics, other pathogenic bacteria, norovirus, and hepatitis E virus. It is recommended to collect more data on these hazards in future studies. Many factors can affect the presence of hazards including seaweed type, physiology, season, harvest and cultivation environment, geography including the location of cultivation, alongside further processing. Moreover, when seaweed is cultivated near industrialized or anthropogenic activities, these activities may negatively influence water quality, which can increase the likelihood of hazards in seaweed. Results of the ranking prioritized hazards can be used to prioritize monitoring programs and adjusted given future additional knowledge covering the data gaps.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 323mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food safety hazards in the European seaweed chain

Banach

Hil

Fels‐Klerx

2020

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Human activity influences the presence and prevalence of human norovirus in the aquatic environment [ 40 ], and outbreaks caused by waterborne viruses have caused serious health and socio-economic impacts [ 41 ]. Although the presence of HNoVs in clams has been widely reported [ 9 , 42 – 46 ], HNoV monitoring in coastal environments is relatively limited [ 2 , 17 , 24 ]. In this study, we investigated the prevalence, seasonal dependence, and genotypic diversity of both NoV GI and GII in four different estuaries (clam fisheries) and their inflow streams, which were in the vicinity of human dwellings in South Korea.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of Human Norovirus in the Coastal Waters of South Korea

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The presence of human norovirus in the aquatic environment can cause outbreaks related to recreational activities and the consumption of norovirus-contaminated clams. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of norovirus genogroups I (GI) and II (GII) in the coastal aquatic environment in South Korea (March 2014 to February 2015). A total of 504 water samples were collected periodically from four coastal areas (total sites = 63), of which 44 sites were in estuaries (clam fisheries) and 19 were in inflow streams. RT-PCR analysis targeting ORF2 region C revealed that 20.6% of the water samples were contaminated by GI (13.3%) or GII (16.6%). The prevalence of human norovirus was higher in winter/spring than in summer/fall, and higher in inflow streams (50.0%) than in estuaries (7.9%). A total of 229 human norovirus sequences were identified from the water samples, and phylogenetic analysis showed that the sequences clustered into eight GI genotypes (GI.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9) and nine GII genotypes (GII.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 17, and 21). This study highlighted three issues: 1) a strong correlation between norovirus contamination via inflow streams and coastal areas used in clam fisheries; 2) increased prevalence of certain non-GII.4 genotypes, exceeding that of the GII.4 pandemic variants; 3) seasonal shifts in the dominant genotypes of both GI and GII.

show abstract

“…Recently, another norovirus outbreak associated with consumption of green seaweed that was eaten unheated with vinegar seasoning was reported in South Korean schools. 8 However, outbreaks due to shredded, dried, laver seaweed processed for long-term preservation are unprecedented. As such, the current events provide several implications for preventing future norovirus outbreaks.…”

Section: Multiple Norovirus Outbreaks Due To Shredded Dried Laver Smentioning

confidence: 99%