Food Poisoning Outbreak Caused by Norovirus GII/4 in School Lunch, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

摘要

In December 2007, there was an outbreak of food poisoning caused by Norovirus (NV) in schools in northern Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.On December 28, 2007, a local health and welfare center received a report that 18 children and 5 teachers at elementary school A had exhibited symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting from December 26 to 27. An investigation by the health and welfare center revealed that many students also exhibited food poisoning symptoms at elementary school B and junior high school C. The onset of the symptoms was distributed from December 26 to 27. The school lunches at these 3 schools were made at different cooking facilities. The common foods used in the lunches were bread and pastry. Bread was delivered to a total of 34 schools. However, no symptoms appeared at the other schools. The pastry prepared by confectionery D was supplied to 4 schools on December 25, including the above 3 schools and 1 school where food poisoning did not occur. The pastry delivered to the school without food poisoning was produced by a different process and on a different date.