Norovirus is a stomach virus that’s highly contagious and causes no shortage of misery to those who catch it.
“Some people have called it the nearly perfect pathogen,” explains Associate Professor Matthew Moore with the Food Science Department at UMass Amherst. “Primarily it’s transmitted person to person, but it is also transmitted via foods.”
Moore says 60 percent of all foodborne illness comes from Norovirus. “It’s through food handlers. So it’s people shedding the virus.”
And just a small amount of the virus packs a powerful punch. Moore says just 18 tiny particles of Norovirus are enough to make you feel pretty sick.
Researchers at UMass Amherst are looking for ways to fight back against the virus, something that includes better detection in food and in the environment.
Boston 25 News observed one student using a harmless bacteria to capture Norovirus, enabling it to be detected more easily. Other research in the Food Science Department focuses on better identifying strains of the virus. As Moore explains, “Knowing what strain of Norovirus it is is really important in identifying an outbreak. It’s sort of like if you have a series of bank robberies, you want to know the name of the person and connect them, right?”
Once Norovirus is found, there’s the task of getting rid of it. And that’s a challenge. “Not only is it hard to inactivate or destroy the virus, it can also persist on surfaces,” Moore says.
But UMass Amherst researchers are studying that too. “So we have some interesting projects, not only related to finding really good disinfectants, but also understanding the consequences of not disinfecting properly. If we keep not applying these disinfectants properly, could we be selecting for or creating variants of this virus that are more resistant to those disinfectants,” Moore explained.
Moore says if your home gets hit with Norovirus, you should first clean any infected surfaces.
Then, disinfect with bleach, which is considered the most effective against Norovirus.
Moore says if you’re sick, don’t prepare food for others.
But food preparation is out of your hands when it comes to dining at your favorite restaurant. “Obviously there might be, you can look up health ratings and health reviews for restaurants and those can be somewhat of an indicator of, you know, how well you’ll be or how risky it will be to go there. But it really is kind of in the hands of the food handlers.”
And speaking of hands, Moore says to ditch the hand sanitizer. Wash your hands with soap and water to scrub out Norovirus. Advice many people say, they’re following frequently these days.
Boston 25 News also reported this week on the work being done at UMass to increase food safety and reduce food recalls. You can see that story here.
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