[Possibilities and the assignments for infection control of norovirus: the verification and the limit of inactivation efficacy by surrogate viruses]

Abstract

Norovirus (NoV) was isolated from the feces of patients were infected during the outbreak of enteritis in Ohio in the early 1970s. Subsequent experimental studies on volunteers proved that NoV was the enteric virus that caused diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. However, the culture of NoV has been unsuccessful, because the mechanism of NoV propagating in cells, NoV infection routes, and methods for preventing NoV infection are unclear. Therefore, from the 1980s, feline calicivirus (FCV), which is cultivable, has been used mainly in research on virus inactivation as a surrogate virus for NoV. In 2003, a new cultivable calicivirus, the murine norovirus (MNV) was isolated from specific mice colonies, and the virus was classified in the NoV geno-group. MNV has also been used in in vitro studies as a surrogate for NoV. However, MNV does not possess structural variety like NoV and FCV. Therefore, when investigating the effect of chemical disinfectants on surrogates for NoV, it is desirable to experiment with other MNV variants or FCV. In future, if large-scale in vitro culture of NoV is successful, we will be able to compare the effect of virucides on structural denaturalization in NoV and surrogate viruses.