Originally published September 27 2005
Scientists use genetic testing methods to control virus outbreak
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Scientists in 2003 were able to employ genetic testing methods in order to control and slow the spread of breakouts of the forborne hepatitis A virus in three southern states, according to a study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The methods, involving genetic sequencing analysis of virus found in blood samples from infected individuals, have greatly improved understanding of outbreaks of other foodborne pathogens, but are time-consuming and not widely available.
In September 2003, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia reported a total of 422 cases of foodborne hepatitis A virus infection to CDC.
In addition to these standard techniques, the researchers also compared viral RNA sequences from case patients and individuals concurrently ill with hepatitis A virus infection in non-outbreak settings in the United States and Mexico.
Viral RNA sequences from patients in the three states, plus patients involved in a subsequent outbreak in Pennsylvania in October 2003 (the latter recently described in the Sept. 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine), were slightly different from each other.
The viral sequence from each outbreak, however, was identical to one or more sequences isolated from northern Mexican residents infected with hepatitis A virus.
The researchers concluded that the sources of the green onions served in restaurants in Tennessee and Georgia were three farms in northern Mexico.
Dr. Amon and colleagues credited the viral sequencing techniques with helping them to identify the relationships between the outbreaks in four separate locations, and to define the scope of the outbreaks quickly.
The molecular epidemiologic methods also enabled public health officials to respond quickly to the later Pennsylvania outbreak.
"Just as the E. coli-contaminated beef outbreaks in the early 1990s prompted changes in epidemiological surveillance that have increased our knowledge of foodborne bacteria, the 2003 hepatitis A outbreaks demonstrated the potential for integrated molecular surveillance to provide a better understanding of the epidemiology of hepatitis A and facilitate rapid responses to outbreaks."
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