Going Viral

Although norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne disease, it is not the only virus of concern to the food industry. Norovirus and hepatitis A virus are two of the highly infectious foodborne pathogens that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls the “big 5”; the others are Salmonella, shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, and Shigella species. These five pathogens have a low infectious dose, infect the gastrointestinal system after ingestion, are shed in feces in high…