• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.622-629
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• 2019

Objectives: The occurrence of norovirus food poisoning in South Korea has been reported since 2003. This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of norovirus food poisoning outbreaks in Korea from 2006 to 2015 and to analyze the relationship between these outbreaks and climate factors. Methods: Data on norovirus food poisoning outbreaks were obtained from the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Data on climate factors were obtained from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Frequency analysis and Pearson's correlation analysis were adopted for this study. Results: During the study period, norovirus was the greatest contributing factor of food poisoning outbreaks. Approximately half of the outbreaks of norovirus food poisoning occurred in winter. Average temperature, highest and lowest temperatures, precipitation, number of days with rainfall, and humidity all had a significant negative correlation with monthly number of outbreaks of norovirus food poisoning (p<0.05). Among these, the lowest and average temperature showed higher correlation coefficients. However, the sum of the outbreaks in spring and autumn was similar to that of winter, and more than one-third occurred in group meal-service settings, including school lunches. This was strongly assumed as the use of norovirus-contaminated groundwater for preparation of meals in some settings. Conclusion: The cold and dry of the winter season in Korea may assist the transmission of norovirus. Also, the use of groundwater in group meal service is suspected of inducing a larger scale of norovirus food poisoning. Both health authorities and community-based prevention and control measures are required to respond to these complex etiological outbreaks.