New funding hopes to help identify norovirus in the waters along Vancouver Island and stop people from getting sick. (The Canadian Press)

By Spencer Sterritt

early warning

$300k project aims to stop norovirus outbreak at Van Isle oyster farms

Jan 17, 2020 | 8:28 AM

NANAIMO — A new project hopes to prevent anyone from getting sick due to Vancouver Island’s delicious oysters.

VIU faculty member Dr. Timothy Green is tasked with developing an early-warning detection system for the norovirus, which will tell farmers their waters are infected with the virus from human sewage and to stop harvesting.

It’s made possible with $300,000 in funding from the province and the organization Genome British Columbia.

Green told NanaimoNewsNOW their proof-of-concept idea is a “long shot” but they hope a device can identify chemicals used when washing clothes to track sewage waste pushed into the Strait of Georgia.

“One of the difficulties with norovirus…is it’s really difficult to detect in oysters. We’re trying to think outside the box to find a different solution to give farmers more assurances their oysters are clean and safe to eat.”

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Early detection would be a game-changer for oyster farmers.

“The current management is: unfortunately people get sick, notify their doctor and the farm gets closed for harvesting,” Green said. “What we and the oyster industry really want to happen is a proactive response where the farmer can realize their oysters are potentially contaminated with the virus and they stop harvesting so people don’t get sick.”

While developing the device to detect chemicals in the water, Green will also be filling in the many gaps which exist about the norovirus.

“We often don’t know how far the virus can travel through the marine environment. Does it affect farms in a very short distance or does it have the potential to move far, like 20 kilometres?”

Norovirus outbreaks in 2017 and 2018 led to several hundred people becoming sick and several farms in the Baynes Sound area west of Denman Island to close.

The BC Shellfish Growers Association estimated more than $9 million was lost in 2017 and sales dipped roughly 50 per cent in 2018.

There was not a norovirus outbreak in 2019.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_Sterrit