The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged people to pay attention to food safety during the Mid-Autumn Festival, as it also reported 14,241 hospital visits for enterovirus infection last week.
There were 47 clusters of norovirus infection caused by grilled oysters in the first half of the year, it said.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said there were 130,472 hospital visits for diarrhea last week, slightly lower than the previous week, and 101 clusters of diarrhea were reported in the past four weeks.
Photo: CNA
Norovirus was the most common cause of clusters, he said.
The CDC’s norovirus surveillance showed that GII.4 was the most common genotype before January, but starting from February, GII.17 became the most common one.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said the centers detected that norovirus infection clusters increased from January to June, and an analysis on the causes found 47 clusters related to grilled oysters, more than previous years.
“Oysters are often associated with norovirus clusters, because shellfish are filter feeders that can ingest and accumulate norovirus in the [contaminated] water,” he said, adding that the viral load in oysters can sometimes be hundreds of times higher than the surrounding seawater.
Norovirus is highly contagious and people might get infected with it from eating raw or undercooked oysters, Lin said.
Norovirus can be transmitted through consumption of contaminated water or food, such as oysters and other shellfish; through contact with vomit or stool of an infected person, or contaminated objects, he said.
“Common symptoms of norovirus infection include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and some people might have a fever, headache and muscle aches,” Lin said.
“Children are more likely to vomit when they get infected,” he said.
Most people can recover without any intervention in one to 10 days, but there is a higher risk of dehydration and other serious complications among younger children, elderly and immunocompromised people, he added.
To prevent norovirus infection, people should keep food ingredients fresh and store them properly, wash their hands with soap before handling food and after using the restroom, avoid cross contamination of raw and cooked food, and thoroughly cook seafood and shellfish before eating, Lin said.
“Please grill oysters for a little longer when barbecuing during the Mid-Autumn Festival,” CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
Some people like to eat grilled shellfish as soon as the shell opens, but it does not necessarily mean that it is cooked thoroughly — which is necessary to kill the norovirus, he said.
Shellfish should be grilled for at least three to five minutes after the shell opens to prevent norovirus infection, he added.
The GII.17 genotype caused two large outbreaks in 2015 and 2016 in Taiwan, and this year there were several clusters from the Lunar New Year holiday to late February, including a cluster in a borough in Taipei and another one at a hotpot restaurant chain in the city, Lo said.
The GII.17 genotype also causes common symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, with some people developing a fever and abdominal cramps, he said.
There is a large outbreak occurring every few years, affecting mostly adults, which is also reflected in the recent diarrhea clusters, as most patients are aged 15 to 64, he said.
Guo said that 72 classes had been suspended nationwide in the first week of the school year due to norovirus cases.
The centers previously projected that the peak of enterovirus infection would occur after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the peak might have passed, possibly because caregivers have reminded young children to practice good hand hygiene, Lo said.
People should still pay attention to personal hygiene during the holiday, he added.
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