Murphy A M, Grohmann G S, Christopher P J, Lopez W A, Davey G R, Millsom R H
Med J Aust. 1979 Oct 6;2(7):329-33. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1979.tb104133.x.
At least 2000 persons were involved in an Australia-wide outbreak of oyster-associated food poisoning in June and July, 1978. At the time, this episode presented a major health risk to the community as a whole and has subsequently posed a serious economic problem for the oyster farming and distributing industry. Although bacteriological investigations indicated some batches of oysters were contaminated by sewage, no bacterial cause could be established. The causative organism was shown to be Norwalk virus, a known cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis. This virus was found in 39% of faecal specimens examined by electron microscopy and an antibody response was demonstrated by immune electron microscopy in 75% of paired sera tested. Norwalk virus has not been identified previously outside the United States of America and has not been linked to food-borne gastroenteritis before. Purification of oysters and other measures have been instituted to prevent a recurrence of the outbreak.
1978年6月和7月，澳大利亚爆发了一起与牡蛎相关的食物中毒事件，至少2000人受影响。当时，这一事件对整个社区构成了重大健康风险，随后给牡蛎养殖和分销行业带来了严重的经济问题。尽管细菌学调查表明部分批次的牡蛎受到污水污染，但未能确定细菌病因。结果显示致病源是诺沃克病毒，这是一种已知的急性非细菌性肠胃炎病因。通过电子显微镜检查，在39%的粪便样本中发现了这种病毒，通过免疫电子显微镜检测，在75%的配对血清中证实了抗体反应。诺沃克病毒此前在美国境外尚未被发现，也未曾与食源性肠胃炎相关联。目前已采取净化牡蛎及其他措施以防止疫情再次爆发。
