Rapid detection of noroviruses in fecal samples and shellfish by nucleic acid sequence-based amplification

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) method of detecting noroviruses in artificially and naturally contaminated shellfish. We used 58 fecal samples that tested positive for noroviruses with electron microscopy (EM) to develop an NASBA assay for these viruses. Oligonucleotide primers targeting the polymerase coding region were used to amplify the viral RNA in an isothermal process that resulted in the accumulation of RNA amplicons. These amplicons were detected by hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide probes that were highly specific for genogroup I (GI) and genogroup II (GII) of noroviruses. The expected band of 327 bp appeared in denaturing agarose gel without any nonspecific band. The specific signal for each amplicon was obtained through Northern blotting in many repeats. All fecal samples of which 46 (79.3%) belonged to GII and 12 (20.6%) belonged to GI were positive for noroviruses by EM and by NASBA. Target RNA concentrations as low as 5 pg/ml were detected in fecal specimens using NASBA. When the assay was applied to artificially contaminated shellfish, the sensitivity to nucleic acid was 100 pg/1.5 g shellfish tissue. The potential use of this assay was also confirmed in naturally contaminated shellfish collected from different ponds in Guangzhou city of China, of which 24 (18.76%) out of 128 samples were positive for noroviruses; of these, 19 (79.6%) belonged to GII and 5 (20.4%) belonged to GI. The NASBA assay provided a more rapid and efficient way of detecting noroviruses in fecal samples and demonstrated its potential for detecting noroviruses in food and environmental samples with high specificity and sensitivity.