Studying interactions between noroviruses and their environment to reduce foodborne transmission

人诺如病毒（hNoV）是全球急性胃肠炎的主要病因。在加拿大，它导致65%的食源性疾病，每年超过100万例。其对广泛的环境条件和许多常规消毒剂的抗性有助于其传播性。食源性病毒最近成为几项研究的主题，以解释其在环境中的高影响和抗性。尽管如此，这些研究的一个重要部分是用纯病毒培养物进行的，而没有考虑它们与微生物群落的相互作用。然而，食源性病毒在感染之前和期间与肠道细菌共存。尽管已经研究了人类肠道微生物群中的细菌对肠道病毒感染性的影响，但关于病毒-细菌相互作用的重要性仍然存在一些差距。病毒和食物微生物之间的相互作用及其在食物基质中hNoV持久性中的作用也是如此。在这个为期五年的研究计划中，基于分子生物学，生物物理学，消化生理学，界面化学和食品科学的多学科方法将被应用于研究病毒-细菌的相互作用以及这些如何影响病毒的持久性和对消毒剂的抗性。我们特别寻求（i）使用斑马鱼幼虫系统开发在斑马鱼中循环的hNoV的集合;（ii）体外研究hNoV在各种食物基质中的行为和胃肠道抗性;（iii）鉴定hNoV与不同环境中的其它微生物之间的相互作用，和（四）评估这些相互作用对病毒灭活策略有效性的影响，以及对一般食源性病毒的影响。建议的研究计划是完全原创的，是我们以前工作的逻辑延续。它解决了食品部门的hNoV问题，这是对抗食源性疾病的国家和国际优先事项。该计划的结果将产生关于hNoV在食品环境中的行为以及解释其持久性和抗性的因素的有价值的数据。了解这些与传播相关的现象对于制定最佳策略以减少食物链中所有点的hNoV发病率并从而打破从食品环境到消费者的传播循环至关重要。除了在食品部门制定更有效的灭活策略外，我们的研究结果还可以用于制定指导方针，以限制hNoV的传播，加强食品安全，从而让消费者放心。从长远来看，我们的研究结果将产生重大的社会经济影响，因为实施最有效的降低病毒性食源性疾病发病率的方法只会减轻医疗保健系统的负担，减少因加拿大和全球受污染产品召回而造成的缺勤和损失。

Human norovirus (hNoV) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. In Canada, it causes 65% of foodborne illnesses, more than one million cases each year. Its resistance to a wide range of environmental conditions and to many conventional disinfectants contributes to its transmissibility. Foodborne viruses have recently been the subject of several studies to explain their high impact and resistance in the environment. Nonetheless, an important part of these studies was carried out with pure viral cultures without considering their interactions with the microbial community. However, foodborne viruses coexist with commensal bacteria prior to and during infection. Although the effect of bacteria in the human gut microbiota on the infectiousness of enteric viruses has been examined, several gaps remain regarding the importance of virus-bacteria interactions. The same is true for interactions between viruses and food microflora and their role in the persistence of hNoV in food matrices. In this five-year research program, a multidisciplinary approach based on molecular biology, biophysics, digestive physiology, interface chemistry and food science will be applied to study interactions virus-bacteria and how these influence viral persistence and resistance to sanitizers. We especially seek to (i) develop a collection of hNoV circulating in Canadia using a zebrafish larvae system; (ii) study in vitro the behavior and gastrointestinal resistance of hNoV in various food matrices; (iii) identify interactions between hNoV and other microorganisms in different environments, and (iv) evaluate the impact of these interactions on the effectiveness of viral inactivation strategies and implications for foodborne viruses in general. The proposed research program is entirely original and is a logical continuation of our previous works. It addresses the problem of hNoV in the food sector, a national and international priority in the fight against foodborne diseases. The results of this program will generate valuable data on the behavior of hNoV in the food environment and the factors that explain its persistence and resistance. Understanding these phenomena related to the transmission is essential to establishing the best strategies to reduce the incidence of hNoV at all points in the food chain and thus break the cycle of transmission from the food environment to consumers. In addition to the development of more effective inactivation strategies in the food sector, our results could also be used in the development of guidelines to limit the transmission of hNoV, reinforce food safety and thereby reassure consumers. On the longer term, our results will have a significant socio-economic impact since implementing the most effective means of reducing the incidence of viral foodborne illness can only lessen the burden on the healthcare system and reduce absenteeism and losses due to recalls of contaminated products in Canada and worldwide.