Norovirus Blog

FDA warns consumers not to eat certain Korean ASSI Brand frozen oysters

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Lawer) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:18:53 -0800

Oysters linked to norovirus cases in Washington state

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat certain ASSI Brand frozen oysters from Korea following an outbreak of illness in Washington state caused by norovirus.

• The frozen oyster meat (shucked; not in shell), is packed in 3-lb bags . Each bag is labeled ASSI Brand “INDIVIDUALLY QUICK FROZEN OYSTER” with a “Better if Used By” date of “2013.02.232.” Each bag identifies Central Fisheries Co. Ltd., as the packer and Korean Farms of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., as the distributor. Korean Farms has voluntarily agreed to recall these oysters.

• The individual bags are shipped in boxes of 10 bags each with the lot number C-110223, appearing on each shipping carton , along with a “SHUCKED DATE: 2011.02.24.

• These oysters, which were served in a Washington state restaurant and were eaten by three people who became ill, have been sampled and tested positive by FDA for norovirus genotypes I and II.

• There have been no reports of hospitalizations or deaths resulting from consuming the frozen oysters.

• Records indicate that this product was shipped to the states of Washington, California, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, and Utah.

• Those who have recently purchased oysters should not eat them and should safely dispose of them in the trash or garbage disposal.

Certain ASSI Brand frozen oysters from Korea have been linked to an outbreak of illness in Washington state caused by norovirus. These oysters, which were served in a Washington state restaurant and eaten by three people who became ill, have been sampled and tested positive by FDA for norovirus genotypes I and II. The frozen oyster meat (shucked; not in shell), is packed in 3-lb bags. Each bag is labeled ASSI Brand “INDIVIDUALLY QUICK FROZEN OYSTER” with a “Better if Used By” date of 2013.02.232. Each bag identifies Central Fisheries Co. Ltd., as the packer and Korean Farms of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., as the distributor. The individual bags are shipped in boxes of 10 bags each with the lot number C-110223, appearing on each shipping carton, along with a “SHUCKED DATE: 2011.02.24.” Korean Farms has voluntarily agreed to recall these oysters.

Norovirus Linked to Minnesota High School

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Lawer) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:12:13 -0800

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) says Norovirus is to blame for an outbreak that sickened dozens of students at Farmington High School in early October.

A post on the Farmington Public Schools website says the diagnosis was made after interviews with students revealed strong evidence that the illness was being spread person-to-person.

Those students suffered vomiting and diarrhea, and at the height of the outbreak more than 60 students at the school called in sick.

An MDH analysis determined that illness was being reported as early as October 2 prior to Homecoming events, but may have spread quickly due to the social nature of student activity during the week.

No evidence was found that linked the outbreak to the preparation of food in the school's cafeteria, nor could it be traced back to a single point of contact for transmission.

Park City Hit with Norovirus

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Lawer) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:52:40 -0800

The Utah Department of Health says dozens of people attending business conferences in Park City were confirmed to have contracted Norovirus, a sickness that causes flu-like symptoms.

Officials say people attending two separate business conferences came down with the sickness. They believe the outbreak is over, but they still want everyone to be careful and report suspected cases.

Summit County health officials say the most common place to get the Norovirus is where large groups of people gather. It is often seen occurring on cruise ships. In Park City it occurred at two large business gathering where people ate catered food.

Montana Norovirus Nonsense

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Attorney) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:56:19 -0800

Several outbreaks of Norovirus have been reported across the state according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The department reports Norovirus is the most common of the viruses that cause gastroenteritis.

Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain.

Riverstone Health recommends people in day care, schools and health care stay home for 48 hours after symptoms have resolved.

Food service workers should stay home for 72 hours.

"In that period just following the illness, you're still shedding the virus but it tends to decrease over time,"said Kim Bailey, a Registered Nurse and Communicable Diseases Manager for Riverstone Health. "So we really want for people especially food service workers to stay home during that period when they're still shedding the virus quite a bit."

Bailey says the vomit from someone with Norovirus can be very infectious.

"When people throw up, it gets aerosolized and little particles get thrown into the air," said Bailey. "And that is infectious to other people that are in the room."

To prevent the spread of Norovirus, Riverstone Health recommends washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds and cleaning "high touch" surfaces with a solution of one-third cup of bleach to a gallon of water.

Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus Scores $25 Million Norovirus Grant

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Lawer) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:52:05 -0800

North Carolina State University will use a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to strengthen food safety by studying human noroviruses across the food supply chain in an effort to design effective control measures and reduce the number of virus-caused food-borne illnesses.

Human noroviruses are the most common cause of food-borne disease, responsible for more than 5 million cases in the United States each year. Noroviruses spread from person to person, through contaminated food or water, and by touching contaminated surfaces. Molluscan shellfish like oysters, clams and mussels, fresh produce and foods that are extensively handled just prior to consumption are at greatest risk for contamination.

Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus, a professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at N.C. State, is the lead investigator of this five-year project. Her group, called the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative, consists of a team of more than 30 collaborators from academia, industry and government. The team will work to increase understanding of the viruses; educate producers, processors and food handlers on safe handling and preparation of food; and develop control and management strategies to reduce food contamination before and after harvesting.

Oregon Resort Linked to Norovirus Illnesses

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Attorney) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:18:36 -0800

The Oregon State Public Health Laboratory says recent fecal samples from some of the nearly 100 people who reported getting ill after visiting Elk Lake Resort in recent weeks have tested positive for Norovirus, officials said Thursday.

Although the drinking water at Elk Lake Resort tested positive for Coliform bacteria, it is now conclusive that E. Coli was not the cause of reported illnesses, according to Deschutes County health officials.

The source of the Norovirus is still unknown, they said, and no new reports of illness occurring after Thursday, July 14 have been reported. The total from before that is close to 100, they said.

Norovirus is a virus that causes acute gastroenteritis in humans. The most common symptoms of acute gastroenteritis are diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain.

Norovirus is also described as "Norwalk-like viruses." Norovirus spreads from person to person through contaminated food or water, and by touching contaminated surfaces. Norovirus is recognized as the leading cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the United States. Outbreaks can happen to people of all ages and in a variety of settings.

Norovirus Hits Sea Princess

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Lawer) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:58:01 -0800

For the fourth time since mid-May, the Se Princess's passengers have been sickened by norovirus, a gastrointestinal infection that causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain.

At the end of a 10-day sailing, the ship returned to San Francisco June 29 with 53 of its 2,196 passengers affected by the stomach bug, according to USA Today.

The number of cases wasn't high enough for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to consider the episode an official outbreak. The CDC issues an outbreak alert only when 3 percent of either passengers or crew members become ill; only 2.4 percent of Sea Princess' passengers were sickened.

Sea Princess hit with Norovirus

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Attorney) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:32:42 -0800

A recent norovirus outbreak onboard the Alaska cruise ship Sea Princess sickened more than a hundred passengers.

Princess Cruises says a total of 142 people became ill during the ship’s May 30th-to-June 9th cruise, which visited Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan.

The San Francisco-based ship’s next departure was pushed back while crews disinfected the Sea Princess. Spokeswoman Karen Candy says the delay was just four hours. But it was enough to force route changes.

Sitka gained an unscheduled stop, Juneau saw the ship later than expected and Haines lost a docking.

The Sea Princess carries about 2,000 passengers and 900 crew members during 10-day Inside Passage cruises. Other stops along the route can include Skagway, Tracy Arm and Victoria, British Columbia.

Norovirus, also called Norwalk-like virus, is a common gastrointestinal illness that causes diarrhea and vomiting. Princess Cruises says it followed U.S. Centers for Disease Control protocols in reporting the illness and cleaning the vessel before its latest sailing.

The cruise line says norovirus numbers were also higher than usual during the ship’s two previous trips.

CDC inspected the Sea Princess on May 24th and identified 13 problems, including a leaking pipe at a soup station. However, all the issues were considered minor and the overall health rating was high.

The Sequoias in Portola Valley Hit with Norovirus

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Attorney) — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:57:32 -0800

Diana Samuels reports that an outbreak of norovirus has sickened more than two-dozen people at The Sequoias in Portola Valley, an official at the retirement community said Tuesday. Officials have closed the retirement community's dining room and canceled social activities, said Rick Isaacs, The Sequoias' skilled nursing administrator. Family members and others are "encouraged not to visit, for the time being," he said, as staff works to keep the illness from spreading.

Norovirus causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain, and is spread from person to person through contaminated food or water and by touching contaminated services, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. It is recognized as the leading cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the United States, the CDC site says. No more than a dozen people at The Sequoias have been sick at any one time since officials at the retirement community learned of the outbreak mid-last week, Isaacs said.

Michigan Warns of Norovirus

marler@marlerclark.com (Norovirus Attorney) — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:00:53 -0800

The Kalamazoo County health department has issued an advisory about a "sharp increase in the number of people ill with norovirus" in the past week.

"We don't have any numbers" because norovirus cases don't have to be reported to the health department, said Linda Buzas, Kalamazoo County health director. But "we're getting lots of calls from lots of different places" reporting a spike.

Norovirus causes nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea, abdominal cramps and sometimes a low-grade fever. The symptoms last 12 to 48 hours and will go away without treatment.

"More than 90 percent of what people call stomach flu is norovirus," Buzas said. "It comes on very quickly and leaves quick, but it's very irritating and will make you very miserable."

Norovirus is "extremely contagious" -- thus, the point of the health alert, Buzas said.

"It spreads very easily, and the big problem is that people don't stay home long enough," further spreading the disease, she said.

People with the illness are contagious up to 48 hours after their symptoms subside, and they should stay home from work, school and public gatherings during that time.

Also, the spread of norovirus can be prevented through "excellent hand washing," the health advisory said.

"It's really important for people to wash their hands" during a norovirus outbreak, Buzas said.