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Updated: May 12, 2026

Swab Sampling Method for the Detection of Human Norovirus on Surfaces
Published on: February 6, 2017
A norovirus outbreak related to contaminated surfaces
Kimberly K Repp1, Trevor P Hostetler, William E Keene
1Washington County Department Health and Human Services, Hillsboro, OR 97124, USA. kimberly_repp@co.washington.or.us
Abstract:
We investigated an outbreak of norovirus infection affecting 12 of 16 auto dealership employees (75%) subsequent to a staff meeting. Take-out sandwiches initially seemed the likely source, but a cohort study found no association between illness and food consumption. Employees reported seeing a toddler with diarrhea in a dealership restroom shortly before the luncheon. Indistinguishable norovirus was isolated from employees and the child (genotype GII6.C) and from a diaper-changing station in the restroom (genogroup GII). Counterintuitively, this point-source outbreak following a meal was caused by environmental exposures, not food. Environmental exposures should be considered even in routine outbreak investigations.
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