An outbreak of Norwalk virus gastroenteritis associated with eating raw oysters: implications for maintaining safe oyster beds

Article Abstract:

An outbreak of virus-associated gastroenteritis among Louisianians who had eaten raw oysters illustrates that improper human sewage disposal methods may be the source of illness. Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach or intestines that is accompanied by vomiting or diarrhea. Between November 1993 and January 1994, Louisiana health officials received reports of 132 people who developed gastroenteritis after eating raw oysters. Researchers conducted surveys and environmental and laboratory investigations to study the gastroenteritis outbreak. Eighty-three percent of surveyed people who had eaten raw oysters developed gastroenteritis. The oysters were traced to the Grand Pass Cabbage Reef harvest area. Two of the six harvesters who worked in this remote harvest area and had vomiting or diarrheal illness during November had dumped their feces or vomitus overboard. Antibodies to the Norwalk virus that can cause gastroenteritis were identified in 79% of blood samples from ill people and 10% of samples from harvesters.

Health aspects, Inland water pollution, Sewage disposal, Sewage disposal in rivers, lakes, etc.

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Outbreak of viral gastroenteritis due to a contaminated well: international consequences

Article Abstract:

An outbreak of viral gastrointestinal disease in Alaska illustrates the necessity for cooperation between national health departments. A hotel operator in Fairbanks, Alaska notified the state health department after noticing that several hotel residents who arrived by bus were ill. Ill bus passengers were also found in hotels in Skagway and Valdez. They had all stopped at a restaurant in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The illness was traced to the restaurant's water supply, which came from a well. One employee lived in a building with a septic pit, which was the source of the contamination.

Virus diseases, Wells

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Viral gastroenteritis associated with eating oysters - Louisiana, December 1996-January 1997

Article Abstract:

Improper sewage disposal by oyster harvesters in Louisiana may have caused an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis among people who ate oysters during the 1996-1997 winter season. About 290 people complained of diarrhea, vomiting and cramps after eating oysters, and most had eaten the shellfish raw. Investigators identified caliciviruses as causative agents, known only to come from the feces of infected persons. A review of restaurants, seafood markets, and oyster harvesters concluded that oyster beds had been contaminated by oyster harvesters who dumped feces overboard.

Viral diarrhea

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