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Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Detection and Genogrouping of Noroviruses from Children's Stools By Taqman One-step RT-PCR
Published on: July 22, 2012
Development of a Simple, Fast, and Cost-Effective Nanobased Immunoassay Method for Detecting Norovirus in Food
Hani A Alhadrami1,2, Saleh Al-Amer3, Yumna Aloraij3
1Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80402, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
This study presents a quick, low-cost, and easy technique for the detection of norovirus in several food samples, including cucumber, lettuce, and chicken. The developed sandwich immunoassay method depends on employing nanotechnology for the detection step. Lactoferrin immobilized on activated Q-tips cotton swabs was used as a general capturing reagent to bind viruses from the sample surface. The cotton swabs were then submerged in a gold nanoparticle solution, which had previously decorated with a specific antibody for noroviruses. Positive samples retained the red color of the gold nanoparticles on the surface of Q-tips, even after washing, while the negative control samples easily lost their color through washing. The results confirmed that the developed assay has superior sensitivity and selectivity with a LOD between 10 and 53 pfu/mL for all tested samples. In light of the difficulty, complexity, and high cost of the methods recently used for detecting viruses in food samples, this method presents a promising reliable technique that can be employed for the rapid detection of norovirus in food samples with an acceptable accuracy.
