An Outbreak of Gastroenteritis Caused by Norovirus-Contaminated Groundwater at a Waterpark in Korea.
10.3346/jkms.2011.26.1.28
- Author:
Seong Joon KOH
1
;
Han Gil CHO
;
Bo Hyun KIM
;
Bo Youl CHOI
Author Information
1. Epidemic Intelligence Service, Division of Public Health Policy, Gyeonggi Provincial Office, Suwon, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Norovirus;
Gastroenteritis;
Disease Outbreaks;
Contaminated Groundwater;
DNA Sequencing
- MeSH:
Adult;
Caliciviridae Infections/*epidemiology/*virology;
Child;
Cohort Studies;
*Disease Outbreaks;
Feces/virology;
Female;
Fresh Water/*virology;
Gastroenteritis/*epidemiology/*virology;
Genotype;
Humans;
Male;
Norovirus/classification/genetics/*isolation & purification;
Phylogeny;
Republic of Korea;
Retrospective Studies;
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction;
Sequence Analysis, RNA
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2011;26(1):28-32
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
In January 2008, an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis at a waterpark was reported to the Bundang-gu Public Health Center in Seongnam, Korea. To determine the etiological agent and mode of transmission, a retrospective cohort study was done using structured questionnaires and stool samples from patients who had current gastrointestinal symptoms and three food handlers were tested. A total of 67 (31.0%) students and teachers developed acute gastroenteritis. No food items were associated with an increased risk of the illness. Norovirus was detected in 3 stool specimens collected from 6 patients who had severe diarrhea using semi-nested RT-PCR. All the specimens contained the genogroup I strains of the norovirus. Norovirus was also detected in the groundwater samples from the waterpark. In the nucleotide sequencing analysis, all the genogroup I noroviruses from the patients and groundwater samples were identified as the norovirus genotype I-4 strain. They were indistinguishable by DNA sequencing with a 97% homology. We conclude the outbreak of acute gastroenteritis caused by the norovirus was closely related to the contaminated groundwater.
