-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www2.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=511&sid=1099899
}}}>Begin
Swiss time 23:44, Monday 15.04.2002
Bottled water contamination claim
Mineral water is marketed for its purity [Keystone Archive]
Swiss scientists say that some brands of mineral water may be contaminated with
human faeces.
Audio / Video / Links
In 11 of 29 European brands of bottled mineral water, Christian Beuret and his
colleagues at the cantonal food laboratory in Solothurn found signs of the virus that
causes more than 90% of the world's stomach disorders. The virus is called
Norwalk-like virus or NLV.
"We didn't believe the results at first, so we got them independently confirmed by a
private Swiss lab," Beuret told Nature Science Update, the online news service of the
science journal, Nature.
"We think human faeces are sporadically contaminating the water either at the
source or some time during the bottling procedure." The team does not yet know how
this might be occurring.
It is also not known whether the water poses a health risk though evidence suggests
that low levels of the virus in mineral water may give some elderly people
gastroenteritis.
Contaminated technique
The mineral water industry warned that the technique used by Beuret's team, called
RT-PCR, is prone to contamination.
"The RT-PCR technique is not suited to the routine analysis of potentially very weakly
contaminated water," a leading company that markets bottled water told Nature
Science Update.
NLV's genome is made of single-stranded RNA. In the mineral water, Beuret's team
detected RNA sequences, which are commonly found in the faeces of people
infected with NLV.
After a year, nine out of ten virus-containing bottles were still contaminated. The
length of time suggests that an envelope of proteins surrounds the virus protecting its
RNA. These proteins also make the virus infectious.
Strains lie dormant
NLV RNA has been spotted in healthy people suggesting some strains may lie
dormant in the body without causing disease.
Tamie Ando studies viral gastroenteritis at the national centre for infectious diseases
in the United States.
"Although we don't know whether the strains found in the mineral water are
dangerous, the work is very important because we need to learn how our
environment has been contaminated by these viruses,” Ando told Nature Science
Update.
The announcement follows two separate studies, published in different scientific
journals.
Two years ago, in the Journal of Food Protection, Beuret’s team looked at mineral
waters imported into or bottled in Switzerland. The latest study published in Applied
and Environmental Microbiology monitored three brands over a year.
swissinfo
09.04.2002 - 23:41
Audio / Video / Links
swissinfo: Swiss researchers say bottled water may be money down the drain
Facts about Norwalk-like viruses
Norwalk-virus infection
End<{{{
>From http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/fact/norwalkv.htm
}}}>Begin
Norwalk-like Viruses
November 28, 1997
Contact: Media Relations Division
(404) 6393286
Norwalk viruses (and related caliciviruses) are important causes of sporadic and
epidemic gastrointestinal disease in the United States. An estimated 181,000 cases
occur annually.
Viral gastroenteritis due to caliciviruses has been associated with eating
contaminated oysters. Oysters can become contaminated before harvest or during
preparation. Water and ice are other sources of infection.
Symptoms of Norwalk virus infection include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and
abdominal cramps. Headache and low-grade fever may also occur. Persons with this
infection usually recover within 2-3 days without serious or long-term health effects.
Shellfish become contaminated via infected fecal matter from sick food handlers, or
by the practice of some harvesters and/ or recreational boaters of dumping raw
sewage overboard. (Note: the only source of calicivirus is feces from sick persons.)
Since 1993, three oyster-related gastroenteritis outbreaks, attributed to calicivirus,
have been documented in Louisiana. In 1993, 73 persons in Louisiana and about
130 others in the United States who ate oysters from Louisiana became ill. A
malfunctioning sewage system was the cause of an outbreak in 1996. The current
outbreak implicates sewage from oyster harvesting vessels as the probable source.
Oyster-related outbreaks probably will continue to occur until seafood regulators and
the oyster industry develop and enforce standards for proper disposal of human
sewage. Food handlers with symptoms of Norwalk-like illness should limit contact
with other persons and be excluded from food handling and preparation.
Media Home | Contact Us
CDC Home | Search | Health Topics A-Z
This page last reviewed Friday, 25 February 2000 14:36:48 GMT- 0600 (Central
Standard Time)
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/fact/norwalkv.htm
End<{{{
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