Epidemiology, prevention, and control of the number one foodborne illness: human norovirus

Human norovirus (NoV) is the number one cause of foodborne illness. Despite tremendous research efforts, human NoV is still poorly understood and understudied. There is no effective measure to eliminate this virus from food and the environment. Future research efforts should focus on developing: (1) an efficient cell culture system and a robust animal model, (2) rapid and sensitive detection methods, (3) novel sanitizers and control interventions, and (4) vaccines and antiviral drugs. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to build multidisciplinary and multi-institutional teams to combat this important biodefense agent.