Norovirus Infectivity in Humans and Persistence in Water

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Scot R. Seitz, Emory University; Juan Leon, Emory University; Kellogg J. Schwab, Johns Hopkins University; G Marshall Lyon III, Emory University; Melissa Dowd, Emory University; Marisa McDaniels, Emory University; Gwen Abdulhafid, Emory University; Marina L. Fernandez, Emory University; Lisa C. Lindesmith, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Ralph S. Baric, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Christine L Moe, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2011-10
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2011, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1128%2FAEM.05806-11
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 19
• Start Page: 6884
• End Page: 6888
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was partially supported by grant 1K01AI087724-01 from the NIAID at the NIH, grant 2010-85212-20608 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a grant from the Emory University Global Health Institute (to J.S.L.).; We also acknowledge financial support from the Emory University Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory program (to S.R.S.).; This work was supported by grant 82911601-1 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (subcontract 5-20900 to Emory University), grant PHS M01 RR0039 from the General Clinical Research Center program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant PHS UL1 RR025008 from the Clinical and Translational Science Award program at the NIH, and grant AI056351 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH.
• Research Categories: Biology, Microbiology; Biology, Virology

Abstract

To examine the long-term infectivity of human norovirus in water, 13 study subjects were challenged at different time points with groundwater spiked with the prototype human norovirus, Norwalk virus. Norwalk virus spiked in groundwater remained infectious after storage at room temperature in the dark for 61 days (the last time point tested). The Norwalk virus-seeded groundwater was stored for 1,266 days and analyzed, after RNase treatment, by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to detect Norwalk virus RNA contained within intact capsids. Norwalk virus RNA within intact capsids was detected in groundwater for 1,266 days, with no significant log10 reduction throughout 427 days and a significant 1.10-log10 reduction by day 1266. Purified Norwalk virus RNA (extracted from Norwalk virus virions) persisted for 14 days in groundwater, tap water, and reagent-grade water. This study demonstrates that Norwalk virus in groundwater can remain detectable for over 3 years and can remain infectious for at least 61 days. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00313404.)