Development of Immunomagnetic Separation Combined with Real-Time RT-PCR Assays for Detecting Norovirus in Contaminated Food

Department of Environmental Health and Institute of Health and Environment, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea; Institute of Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea; Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea; and Division of Enteric and Hepatitis Viruses, Center for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Seoul, Korea

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: gko{at}snu.ac.kr.

	Abstract

We developed an immunomagnetic separation (IMS) technique combined with real-time TaqMan® RT-PCR, which allowed detection of Norovirus (NoV) at a level as low as 3-7 RT-PCR units from artificially contaminated strawberries. The inoculum recovery rate ranged from 14 to 30%. The data demonstrate that IMS combined with real-time RT-PCR will be useful as a rapid and sensitive method for detecting food-borne microbial contaminants.