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Abstract
Human norovirus (HuNoV) is the leading cause of foodborne illnesses in the United States. Berries are often associated with HuNoV outbreaks. However, it is not known to what extent infectious HuNoV consumed in berries survives passage through the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the current FDA method for HuNoV detection in berries is based on virus RNA quantification by RT-qPCR. Method optimization is required to allow recovery of infectious HuNoV from berries. Because HuNoV is difficult to culture, Tulane virus (TV), a culturable HuNoV surrogate, is often used. Results from this study indicated that the infectivity of TV in strawberries did not change during simulated oral, gastric, and intestinal digestion. The elution buffer in the FDA method was optimized to recover infectious TV from strawberries. Taken together, the HuNoV surrogate retained infectivity during passage in the gastrointestinal tract. The FDA method was optimized for recovery of infectious viruses from strawberries.