Funded by the Center for Produce Safety (CPS), a University of Georgia (UGA) researcher is leveraging cutting-edge technology to improve the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) detection of viruses on foods, and then will use the method to study infectious norovirus persistence on berries.
FDA’s standard detection method for human infectious viruses, like norovirus and hepatitis A, is hindered by the fact that viruses are present in such low numbers that they are difficult to recover, and because the presence of virus genetic material does not always equal infectivity. However, UGA’s Malak Esseili, Ph.D. hopes to optimize methods for detecting and quantifying infectious norovirus from fresh berries using a cell culture model. Not only could the UGA team's work provide industry with better tools for measuring viruses on foods, but it could also shed light on the potential risk of infectious norovirus in stored berries.