Viruses

1) Noroviruses

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Common name of illness

  • Variously called viral gastroenteritis

Onset time after ingesting

  • 12-48 hrs

Sources

  • Raw produce
  • contaminated drinking water
  • uncooked foods and cooked foods that are not reheated after contact with an infected food handler
  • shellfish from contaminated waters

Sign & Symptom

  • winter diarrhea
  • acute non- bacterial gastroenteritis
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • abdominal cramp
  • diarrhea
  • fever
  • headache.
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2) Hepatitis A

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Common name of illness

  • Hepatitis

Onset time after ingestion

  • 15-50 days (28 days average)

Sign & Symptom

  • Diarrhea
  • dark urine
  • jaundice
  • flu-like symptoms (fever, headache, nausea, and abdominal pain)

Sources

  • Contaminated drinking water
  • shellfish from contaminated waters
  • frozen berries.
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3) Astrovirus

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Astroviruses are small, nonenveloped, single-stranded, positive sense RNA viruses that cause asymptomatic infections

Common name of illness

known to cause enteric disease in mammals and birds.

Sign & Symptom

  • Leading cause of childhood diarrhea
  • fatal duckling hepatitis

Sources

  • Widespread in poultry
  • Oysters
  • shellfish

Who’s at risk

  • Primarily affects children
  • elderly
  • immunocompromised people.

Transmission

  • fecal/oral
  • fomites
  • contaminated food and water.
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4) Rotavirus

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Rotavirus is a virus that infects the bowels, causing a severe inflammation of the stomach and bowels (gastroenteritis)

Sign & Symptom

  • Fever
  • Vomit
  • Watery diarrhea
  • Abdominal pain
  • Lethargy
  • Dry or sticky mouth
  • Extreme thirst.

Who’s at risk

  • Infants and children are most commonly infected with rotavirus.
  • Adults may also become infected, but the resulting illness is usually less severe than that in infants and young children.

Source

  • Virus shed in stool in large numbers

Transmission

  • Fecal-oral route, children can transmit the virus when they forget to wash their hands before eating or after using the toilet.
  • Touching a surface that has been contaminated with rotavirus and then touching the mouth area can result in infection.
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