A FOODBORNE OUTBREAK OF NOROVIRUS GASTROENTERITIS ASSOCIATED WITH A CHRISTMAS DINNER IN PORTO, PORTUGAL, DECEMBER 2008

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2009

Authors

Mesquita, JR (Author) Other; Nascimento, MSJ (Author) FFUP

Journal

Title: Eurosurveillance

Vol. 14

Pages: 19-21

ISSN: 1560-7917

Publisher: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 19 Citations

Scopus - 14 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Medical and Health sciences > Health sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-003-F1H

Abstract (EN): An outbreak of acute norovirus gastroenteritis was detected and epidemiologically linked to a Christmas dinner reunion of 22 recent graduate students in a restaurant in Porto, Portugal, in December 2008. A retrospective cohort study was carried out using online standardised questionnaires. Sixteen primary and three secondary cases were identified and the risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals for each food item were calculated. The response rate to the online questionnaires was 96%. The outbreak met all four Kaplan's criteria and the attack rate was 73%. Norovirus GII.4 2006b was detected in stools and emesis samples of two primary cases. The ingestion of soup and lettuce salad was considered a risk factor for this norovirus outbreak, as determined by statistical analysis. Our investigation demonstrated two routes of transmission of norovirus starting with foodborne exposure followed by secondary person-to-person spread. To our knowledge this is the first study identifying norovirus as the causative agent of a foodborne outbreak in Portugal.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 3