Viruses?

• Viruses are nonliving agents that are

Noroviruses associated with all forms of life.
• The sizes of the longest viruses are same to
the smallest bacteria cells.
Size (Diameter)/nm Genome content

B.K.K.K.Jinadasa
Smallest virus 20 4-5 gene

Largest virus 300 150-200 gene

kkamal@nara.ac.lk E. coli cell 1,000 3,000 gene

Human cell 20,000 <60,000

• Size and genome content of viruses with

compare other cells.

Difference between virus and cells Morphology of virus:

Viruses Living cells

Growth Grow only within cells, Most free living

outside cell metabolically
inert

Nucleic acid content Contain either DNA or RNA, Always contain both DNA
never both and RNA

Enzyme content Have very few if any enzymes Have many enzymes Oyster accumulate with Noro Virus

Cell components Lack ribosome and enzymes Contains ribosome and

to generate energy enzymes for generation of
energy

What are Noroviruses? • Norovirus are resistant to environment

changes.
• Noroviruses are a group of viruses that • They can survive in up to 10 ppm chlorine,
cause the “stomach flu” in people. present in public water systems.
• The term norovirus was recently approved • They can bare freezing, can survive
as official name for this group of viruses. temperature as high as 1400F (600C). They
Several other names have been used for have been associated with illness after
steamed in shellfish.
norviruses, including;
• Noroviruses occur all over the world but data
– Calcivirus
are not enough based on annual medicine of
– Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) disease
– Small round structured viruses.
How to identify? Food borne diseases?
• Antigen detection method. • Not reported in Norovirus diseases in Sri Lanka.
• Enzyme immunoassay. Mean incidence
Salmonella 16,800
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Yersinia 7,900
• Electron microscopic methods. Campylobater 123,000
E. coli 340
Listeria 24
Norovirus 108,000

• At the recent publication of food focus magazine,

New Zealand has indicated that Norovirus take
important role for food borne diseases at year
2005.

What are the symptoms of illness? How to infected?

• Usually
– Nausea
• Eating contaminated food or drink.
– Vomiting
– Diarrhea • Touching surface or objects contaminated
– Stomach cramping with norovirus, and then placing hand in
mouth.
• Sometimes additionally have
• direct contact with another infected
– Low-grade fever
person
– Headache
– Muscle aches
– General sense of tiredness

What are the treatments? How to prevent?

• Currently, there in no antiviral
medication and no vaccine to prevent
infection.
• Only giving dehyration fluid to prevent
dehydration.
• Frequently wash hands, before eating
or prepare foods.
• Wash fruits & vegetables, steam oysters
before eating.
• Thoroughly clean & disinfected food
processing surface.
• Infected person should not prepare
food 3 days after recover.
THNAKKS !