title: Diversity of enterovirus sequences detected in oysters by RT-heminested PCR.
abstract: Oysters harvested in western France, from five sites associated with outbreaks of food-borne norovirus gastroenteritis between February 2000 and March 2001, were assayed for enterovirus RNA by reverse transcriptase-heminested polymerase chain reaction (RT-heminested PCR). Forty percent (21/52) of shellfish samples (pool of seven oysters) were contaminated by enteroviruses. Infectious coxsackieviruses serotype A21 were isolated from three of these positive samples. Amplicons corresponding to 65 base sequences in the 5' untranslated region of the enteroviral genome were analyzed by direct sequencing. Interpretable results were obtained from 18 amplicons, but mixtures of sequences confused the results from 3 samples. Sequences isolated from samples from the different sites were different but similarities were observed between sequences detected in shellfish from two sites at different dates. Sequences were also compared to sequences of human, bovine and porcine enteroviruses. Both human and animal origins of enterovirus contamination of shellfish seemed likely.
authors.affiliation: Secteur de Virologie des Aliments et de l'Eau, Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, 22, rue Pierre Curie, BP 67, 94703 Maisons-Alfort cedex, France. e.dubois@afssa.fr
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.forename: Ghislaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Merle
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roquier
authors.forename: Auré Lien
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Trompette
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Le Guyader
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Crucière
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chomel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005602:France; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D010125:Ostreidae / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012758:Shellfish / Q000382:microbiology; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral