Chinese Raspberries contaminated with Norovirus

2006 - 2016 : 9 alerts in RASFF for products from China

Germans, Danes, Dutchs, Lithuanians, Belgians and Swedes have posted no less than 9 alerts for Raspberries and Strawberries from

 China in 10 years.

A new 2016 RASFF Norovirus Alert on Fruits from China

"#Norovirus (genogroup II) in deep-frozen raspberries from China https://t.co/Fq9v19NFO3"

Find out more about the previous RASFF Alerts :

Norovirus in frozen strawberries from China

A new alert has been registered in the RASFF system for imported Chinese strawberries on Aug. 8th, 2014. This alert followed a regulation for the control of Strawberries imported from China, for Norovirus and Hepatitis A Virus detection (1235-2012, Alinea 4)

Large norovirus outbreak in Germany in 2012

A large massive outbreak occurred in Germany in 2012 (http://ceeram.blogspot.fr/2012/10/chinese-frozen-strawberries-source-of_6.html), during which more than 11000 children were found sick after consumption of norovirus contaminated strawberries originating from China.

What are food-borne viruses?

• HAV was first identified in 1973, and is a non-enveloped virus, classified within the genus hepatovirus of the picornavirus family. Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis A virus (HAV). Hepatitis A is highly contagious. HAV is  transmitted by the fecal-oral route, either through person-to-person contact orconsumption of contaminated food or water. For more information on Hepatitis A check the CDC website and WHO Website.
• Noroviruses are highly contagious and 10-100 viral particles may be sufficient to infect an individual. They are transmitted primarily through the faecal-oral route, either by consumption of contaminated food or water, or by spreading directly from person to person. Vomiting creates aerosols with high content of virus particles, which enter the oral mucosa or contaminate surfaces. The virus survives a long time on different surfaces and thus, environment may serve as a source of new infections. For more information on norovirus check the ECDC website

Foodborne Virus alerts in RASFF : an Update

In the past couple days, RASFF published two new informations for products contaminated with viruses in food (norovirus).

Noroviruses in French Oysters

As often published on this blog, oysters are a major source of contamination.

This is the eleventh RASFF alert on Molluscan shellfish this year. Overall oysters account for 46% of the foodstuff contaminated with norovirus.

Foodborne viruses and bivalve shellfish

Clams have also been implicated in alerts, with contamination by Hepatitis A Virus, and norovirus.

Pathogens and Foodstuff

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs 

 

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs :

(2) Foodstuffs should not contain micro-organisms or their toxins or metabolites in quantities that present an unacceptable risk for human health.

(27) In particular, criteria for pathogenic viruses in live bivalve molluscs should be established when the analytical methods are developed sufficiently. There is a need for development of reliable methods for other microbial hazards too, e.g. Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Noroviruses in Bulgarian Raspberries

Fruits are the most second foodstuff implicated in outbreak, and rapsberries have been recently implicated with a contamination by Norovirus.
Products from Bulgaria has been implicated 10 times in alerts, essnetially for Hepatitis A Virus. This is the first time that norovirus, according to the RASFF, is detected in fruits from Bulgaria.
Italy, France and Norway have posted those alerts in the past years.

Foodborne virus and ISO Method

In 2014, 15% of the RASFF virus alerts implicated fruits. ISO Method is available for the pre-treatment of various matrices, including Fruits (stoneless edible fruits), such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, currants.

• ISO/TS 15216

  ISO/TS 15216-1:2013 describes a method for quantification of levels of :
  ISO/TS 15216-2:2013 describes a method for qualitative detection of :
  
  
  1. HAV (Hepatitis A Virus) and
  2. NoV ( Norovirus) genogroup I (GI) and II (GII) RNA,

from test samples of foodstuffs or food surfaces. Following liberation of viruses from the test sample, viral RNA is then extracted by lysis with guanidine thiocyanate and adsorption on silica. Target sequences within the viral RNA are amplified and detected by real-time RT-PCR.

Hepatitis A Virus and Norovirus

• HAV was first identified in 1973, and is a non-enveloped virus, classified within the genus hepatovirus of the picornavirus family. Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis A virus (HAV). Hepatitis A is highly contagious. HAV is  transmitted by the fecal-oral route, either through person-to-person contact orconsumption of contaminated food or water. For more information on Hepatitis A check the CDC website and WHO Website.
  
• Noroviruses are highly contagious and 10-100 viral particles may be sufficient to infect an individual. They are transmitted primarily through the faecal-oral route, either by consumption of contaminated food or water, or by spreading directly from person to person. Vomiting creates aerosols with high content of virus particles, which enter the oral mucosa or contaminate surfaces. The virus survives a long time on different surfaces and thus, environment may serve as a source of new infections. For more information on norovirus check the ECDC website

Sources :

1. RASFF
2. CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HAV/index.htm
3. WHO: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/hepatitis/whocdscsredc2007/en/index2.html

Norovirus in French Oysters

Two new alerts for norovirus in french oysters have been published in the RASFF [Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed]

• Alert from Sweden
• Alert from Denmark

Norovirus and Oysters, a love story

As recently published in a linkedin Post, norovirus are often found in bivalve shellfish as they specifically bind to digestive ducts. 

Conventional depuration will not eliminate noroviruses from oyster tissue (Le Guyader, 2006).

Four Norovirus alerts in the RASFF

 

This is the fourth Norovirus alert in the RASFF this year, with 75% of bivalve shellfish implicated, from French, Dutch and Irish origins.

Register to get monthly Food-Borne Virus Alerts from the RASFF by entering your email here.

 

Norovirus, highly contagious

Noroviruses are highly contagious and 10-100 viral particles may be sufficient to infect an individual. They are transmitted primarily through the faecal-oral route, either by consumption of contaminated food or water, or by spreading directly from person to person. Vomiting creates aerosols with high content of virus particles, which enter the oral mucosa or contaminate surfaces. The virus survives a long time on different surfaces and thus, environment may serve as a source of new infections. For more information on norovirus check the ECDC website.

RASFF ANNUAL REPORT 2014

 RASFF [Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed] recently published its 2014 Annual Report. Here is what is said about viruses :

Norovirus

A significant rise in the notifications for norovirus in bivalve molluscs is largely attributable to 24 notifications on boiled clams from Vietnam. Problems with these clams were already signalled in 2013, when Salmonella was frequently detected in them.

Investigations showed that these clams were insufficiently heat treated to eliminate pathogens. Vietnam reported back that problems with the coastal water quality were the origin of the contamination and took measures to ensure clams were sourced from less contaminated waters.

The EC also obliged Vietnam to ensure that the clams were sufficiently cooked (90°C/90s) to eliminate pathogens.

Hepatitis A

The investigations into the foodborne outbreaks with hepatitis A in 2013 that could be linked to berries culminated in important efforts to collect backwards traceability information on the suspected products up to the farmer level. Because of the large incubation time before illness, many products needed to be investigated. The data were collected through templates prepared by EFSA that were based on the methodology worked out during the E. coli outbreak investigations of 2011. Data were stored on iRASFF in the form of three RASFF news items on the three outbreaks that started in 2013 in Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands.

In 2014 more cases of illness associated with the same virus strain were reported in Germany, Norway, Sweden and France and led to notifications by France (mixed frozen berries), Norway (berry but termilk cake) and Germany (frozen strawberries), extending the initial tracing dataset.

EFSA published a report on the analysis of the traceability data collected which aimed at finding the “hotspots” where the contamination has occurred along the production chain. A single source of contamination was not identified but a data model of the complex distribution chain was elaborated linking the various RASFF alerts with human cases of Hepatitis A via evidence from epidemiology and tracing of single lots of frozen berries.

Read more at :
rasff_annual_report_2014.pdf

Norovirus : chilean blueberries contamination

In 2014, 2% of all virus contaminated products, identified through RASFF, were concerning blueberries.

Norovirus and Fruits

62% of the virus contaminated products (RASFF) were due to norovirus in 2014.

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that can infect anyone. You can get it from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed. This leads you to have stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up. [Source CDC]

Food-borne viruses and Food

In 2014, EFSA published a Scientific Opinion on the risk posed by pathogens in food of non-animal origin. Part 2 (Salmonella and Norovirus in berries). 

…Microbiological criteria for Norovirus in berries are useful for validation and verification of food safety management systems, including HACCP-based processes and procedures… [Source EFSA]

Food-borne viruses and Chile

Since 2006, Chilean fruits have been implicated in 7 RASFF Alerts, Information or Border Rejection, all blueberries, raspberries or berry mix. 

 

Both Hepatitis A virus and norovirus were detected in Chilean fruits.

Food-borne norovirus and RASFF

In 2015, 12 alerts have been registered in the RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed), and 25% (3 out of 12) are implicating Berries.

Learn more about food-borne virus detection at www.Ceeramtools.com

Norovirus in mollusks : two new alerts from the RASFF

Two new alerts have been posted on the RASFF [Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed] in March 2015 for mollusks contaminated by Norovirus.

Norovirus and Clams

Once again, vietnamese clams have been caught in the nest by EU authorities for a contamination by norovirus. They were rejected at border. This is the third alert on vietnamese clams this year only. It amounted 26 alerts in 2014 for the same products (clams) from the same origin (Vietnam).

Norovirus and Oysters

French oysters were controlled positive for norovirus for the second time this year, adding up to the five alerts on french produce in 2014.

There is also an ongoing ban from Hong Kong on irish oysters contaminated with norovirus.

More information on RASFF 2014 virus Alerts can be found at http://www.ceeram.com/norovirus-border-rejection-rasff-2015-3.html#

Alert on French Oysters contaminated with Norovirus

French oysters have been contaminated by norovirus. A RASFF [Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed] alert has been published, amounting to three Virus alerts since early January 2015, only for Norovirus in mollusks.

Belgium, Italy and France were the three countries where the norovirus contaminated oysters have been shipped to.


In 2014, French oysters were also implicated in four different norovirus alerts and information through the RASFF platform.

Norovirus : British oysters contaminated

Norovirus in oysters from the United Kingdom

- Withdrawal from the market
- Both genogroups NoV GI and GII found

 

 

Reference: 2014.1311

Notification type: food - information for attention - food poisoning

Notification date: 24/09/2014

Action taken: withdrawal from the market

Last update: 24/09/2014

Distribution status: product (presumably) no longer on the market

Notification from: Denmark (DK)

Product: oysters

Classification : information for attention

Product category: bivalve molluscs and products thereof

Distributed to

Denmark

Origin

United Kingdom