Virus-Bacteria Interactions: Implications for Prevention and Control of Human Enteric Viruses from Environment to Host.

Abstract

Human enteric viruses, specifically human norovirus (hNoV), are the most common cause of foodborne illness boasting a wide range of transmission routes. These include person to person, contact with contaminated fomites, as well as ingestion of contaminated water and food. Because of this, the control and prevention of enteric viruses in food and other relevant environments have been a research focus over the past few decades. Interestingly, viruses as well as many other pathogens are often studied in isolation even though it is known that microorganisms do not occur in isolation but rather as part of complex microbial communities-both external from the host and within the host. Therefore, the overall goal of this review is to present the current evidence on virus-microbe interactions as these relate to the infectivity as well as the control and prevention of epidemiologically relevant foodborne viruses (such as hNoV) within our food systems. Therefore, this review is divided into in vivo, in situ, and in vitro implications of virus-microbe interactions through discussion of studies investigating the complex relationships between human enteric viruses and microbial cohabitants, specifically hNoV and bacteria.