The Epidemiology of Enteric Caliciviruses from Humans: A Reassessment Using New Diagnostics

Abstract

In the United States, acute gastroenteritis is one of the most commonly noted illnesses on hospital discharge records and death certificates, yet few of these cases have an etiologic diagnosis. The application of new molecular diagnostic methods has shown caliciviruses (previously referred to as the Norwalk family of viruses or small round structured viruses) to be the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks in the United States, and they may emerge as a common cause of sporadic cases of AGE among both children and adults. Novel molecular methods have permitted outbreak strains to be traced back to their common source and have led to the first identification of virus in implicated vehicles of infection-water, shellfish, and foods contaminated both at their source and by food handlers. The broad application of these methods to routine diagnosis in hospitals and public health laboratories is advancing our appreciation of the full burden of calicivirus-associated diarrhea, and it is opening new avenues for its prevention and control.

Genetic classification of "Sapporo-like viruses"

“…The members of the genera "Sapporo-like viruses" (SLVs) and "Norwalk-like viruses" (NLVs) in the family Caliciviridae [14,32] are an important cause of gastroenteritis in humans [4,8,10,12,21,28,30,39,40,43] and animals [7,15,26,38]. In humans, the illnesses caused by SLVs and NLVs differ in epidemiological features and clinical symptoms.…”

Genetic Analysis of Noroviruses in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, between 1999 and 2004

“…Noroviruses (NVs) have three major open reading frames (ORFs) that encode nonstructural, capsid, and minor structural proteins, respectively (8). They are one of the most common causes of gastroenteritis and have been detected in fecal samples from both humans (12,15,28) and animals (20,30,37). Human-associated NV outbreaks resulting from ingestion of contaminated water or food, such as oysters (4,5,18,23), and outbreaks in public places, particularly hospitals, schools, and cruise ships (9,11,22,36), pose an important public health problem.…”

Norovirus; The Principal Threat of Food Borne Illness World Wide: A Review

“…Norovirus (previously called "Norwalk-like virus" or NLV) is a member of the family Caliciviridae [2,3]. The name derives from the Latin for chalice-calyx-meaning cup-like, and refers to the indentations of the virus surface [3].…”

“…Other discoveries followed, with each strain name based on the location of its discovery-e.g., Montgomery County, Snow Mountain, Mexico, Hawaii, Parmatta, Taunton, and Toronto viruses [2,6]. A study published in 1977 found that the Toronto virus was the second most common cause of gastroenteritis in children [7].…”