If you read my blog on campylobacter yesterday you might be interested to find out that we have also been working on another bug – Norovirus.
Earlier this week, a range of national and international experts gathered at an FSA workshop to look at how a research strategy might be developed to make it easier to tackle foodborne viruses such as Norovirus. The presentations and discussions really brought home the complex nature of the problem.
It’s clear that we need to develop a much greater understanding of the role food plays in outbreaks, but also that food is only part of the picture. Consideration must also be given to our understanding of the organism and to better ways of detecting and tracking it.
It was interesting to hear that this is an area in which the next generation sequencing technologies we heard about in a previous FSA workshop show real potential. One thing is clear – because of the wider public health issues involved, we will need to work with a range of organisations to come up with an effective solution.