Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Public Health Reports logoLink to Public Health Reports
. 1996 Nov-Dec;111(6):527–530.

Steaming oysters does not prevent Norwalk-like gastroenteritis.

K B Kirkland 1, R A Meriwether 1, J K Leiss 1, W R Mac Kenzie 1
PMCID: PMC1381901  PMID: 8955700

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether steaming oysters prevents gastroenteritis caused by small round structured (Norwalk-like) viruses and to identify risk factors for illness. METHODS: The authors interviewed all 48 people who ate oysters at two church suppers that were followed by outbreaks of gastroenteritis from a Norwalk-like virus. Data were collected on demographics, clinical illness, number of oysters eaten, and the extent to which they were cooked. RESULTS: Among the 48 persons, the attack rate was 56%. The risk of illness increased with the number of oysters eaten (chi-square for trend = 5.7, P = 0.02). There was no decrease in attack rates among persons who ate oysters that were better done (chi-square for trend = 1.1, P = 0.29). CONCLUSIONS: In these outbreaks, the risk of illness increased with the number of oysters eaten. Steaming oysters did not appear to prevent illness, suggesting that steaming may not be adequate to inactivate small round structured viruses. Public health messages that have emphasized the role of raw shellfish in the transmission of enteric viruses should be altered to increase the public's awareness that eating steamed oysters may also pose health risks.

Full text

PDF
527

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ando T., Monroe S. S., Gentsch J. R., Jin Q., Lewis D. C., Glass R. I. Detection and differentiation of antigenically distinct small round-structured viruses (Norwalk-like viruses) by reverse transcription-PCR and southern hybridization. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jan;33(1):64–71. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.1.64-71.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. DiGirolamo R., Liston J., Matches J. R. Survival of virus in chilled, frozen, and processed oysters. Appl Microbiol. 1970 Jul;20(1):58–63. doi: 10.1128/am.20.1.58-63.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dolin R., Blacklow N. R., DuPont H., Buscho R. F., Wyatt R. G., Kasel J. A., Hornick R., Chanock R. M. Biological properties of Norwalk agent of acute infectious nonbacterial gastroenteritis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1972 Jun;140(2):578–583. doi: 10.3181/00379727-140-36508. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dowell S. F., Groves C., Kirkland K. B., Cicirello H. G., Ando T., Jin Q., Gentsch J. R., Monroe S. S., Humphrey C. D., Slemp C. A multistate outbreak of oyster-associated gastroenteritis: implications for interstate tracing of contaminated shellfish. J Infect Dis. 1995 Jun;171(6):1497–1503. doi: 10.1093/infdis/171.6.1497. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gill O. N., Cubitt W. D., McSwiggan D. A., Watney B. M., Bartlett C. L. Epidemic of gastroenteritis caused by oysters contaminated with small round structured viruses. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Nov 19;287(6404):1532–1534. doi: 10.1136/bmj.287.6404.1532. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gunn R. A., Janowski H. T., Lieb S., Prather E. C., Greenberg H. B. Norwalk virus gastroenteritis following raw oyster consumption. Am J Epidemiol. 1982 Mar;115(3):348–351. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Koff R. S., Sear H. S. Internal temperature of steamed clams. N Engl J Med. 1967 Mar 30;276(13):737–739. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196703302761307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kohn M. A., Farley T. A., Ando T., Curtis M., Wilson S. A., Jin Q., Monroe S. S., Baron R. C., McFarland L. M., Glass R. I. An outbreak of Norwalk virus gastroenteritis associated with eating raw oysters. Implications for maintaining safe oyster beds. JAMA. 1995 Feb 8;273(6):466–471. doi: 10.1001/jama.1995.03520300040034. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Moe C. L., Gentsch J., Ando T., Grohmann G., Monroe S. S., Jiang X., Wang J., Estes M. K., Seto Y., Humphrey C. Application of PCR to detect Norwalk virus in fecal specimens from outbreaks of gastroenteritis. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Mar;32(3):642–648. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.3.642-648.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Monroe S. S., Stine S. E., Jiang X., Estes M. K., Glass R. I. Detection of antibody to recombinant Norwalk virus antigen in specimens from outbreaks of gastroenteritis. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Nov;31(11):2866–2872. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.11.2866-2872.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Morse D. L., Guzewich J. J., Hanrahan J. P., Stricof R., Shayegani M., Deibel R., Grabau J. C., Nowak N. A., Herrmann J. E., Cukor G. Widespread outbreaks of clam- and oyster-associated gastroenteritis. Role of Norwalk virus. N Engl J Med. 1986 Mar 13;314(11):678–681. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198603133141103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Murphy A. M., Grohmann G. S., Christopher P. J., Lopez W. A., Davey G. R., Millsom R. H. An Australia-wide outbreak of gastroenteritis from oysters caused by Norwalk virus. Med J Aust. 1979 Oct 6;2(7):329–333. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1979.tb104133.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Truman B. I., Madore H. P., Menegus M. A., Nitzkin J. L., Dolin R. Snow Mountain agent gastroenteritis from clams. Am J Epidemiol. 1987 Sep;126(3):516–525. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114684. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Public Health Reports are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES