Pattern of shedding of small, round-structured virus particles in stools of patients of outbreaks of food-poisoning from raw oysters.

The pattern of shedding of the small, round-structured virus (SRSV) particles in the stools of patients who suffered from food-poisoning due to raw oysters was investigated. The duration and concentration of fecal shedding of the SRSV particles were studied by electron microscopic examinations of stool specimens obtained during the course of illness to see a relation of viral shedding to day of illness. It was found that the fecal shedding of the SRSV particles occurred within five days of illness; thereafter, the concentration of the SRSV particles in feces rapidly decreased within a few days during the course of illness.