Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Feb;143(3):515-21.
doi: 10.1017/S0950268814001332. Epub 2014 May 27.

First norovirus outbreaks associated with consumption of green seaweed (Enteromorpha spp.) in South Korea

J H Park  1 , H S Jeong  2 , J S Lee  3 , S W Lee  2 , Y H Choi  4 , S J Choi  4 , I S Joo  3 , Y R Kim  5 , Y K Park  6 , S K Youn  4
Affiliations

First norovirus outbreaks associated with consumption of green seaweed (Enteromorpha spp.) in South Korea

J H Park et al. Epidemiol Infect. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

In February 2012, an outbreak of gastroenteritis was reported in school A; a successive outbreak was reported at school B. A retrospective cohort study conducted in school A showed that seasoned green seaweed with radishes (relative risk 7·9, 95% confidence interval 1·1-56·2) was significantly associated with illness. Similarly, a case-control study of students at school B showed that cases were 5·1 (95% confidence interval 1·1-24·8) times more likely to have eaten seasoned green seaweed with pears. Multiple norovirus genotypes were detected in samples from students in schools A and B. Norovirus GII.6 isolated from schools A and B were phylogenetically indistinguishable. Green seaweed was supplied by company X, and norovirus GII.4 was isolated from samples of green seaweed. Green seaweed was assumed to be linked to these outbreaks. To our knowledge, this is the first reported norovirus outbreak associated with green seaweed.

Keywords: Epidemiological investigation; South Korea; foodborne illness; green seaweed; norovirus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Epidemic curves of norovirus outbreaks in (a) school A and (b) school B.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Phylogenetic analysis of outbreaks based on partial sequence of the norovirus capsid region (open reading frame 2). Nucleotide sequences were analysed by the neighbour-joining method. The numbers at the branches indicate bootstrap values for 1000 replicates. Closed circles, 13 strains detected in school A; open circles, five strains detected in school B; closed rectangle, one strain detected in green seaweed from company X; closed triangles, two strains detected in seawater near company X; open triangle, one strain detected in seawater used for washing raw green seaweed from company X.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Adler JL, Zickl R. Winter vomiting disease. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1969; 119: 668–673. - PubMed
    1. Lopman B, Zambon M, Brown DW. The evolution of norovirus, the ‘gastric flu’. PLoS Medicine 2008; 5: e42. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang QH, et al. Porcine noroviruses related to human noroviruses. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2005; 11: 1874–1881. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cheon DS, et al. Seasonal prevalence of asymptomatic norovirus infection in Korean children. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 2010; 7: 1427–1430. - PubMed
    1. Mattner F, et al. Risk groups for clinical complications of norovirus infections: an outbreak investigation. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2006; 12: 69–74. - PubMed

MeSH terms