It has been known for some time that food can transmit pathogens of viral and bacterial nature to humans resulting in various diseases that, despite progress in the field of prevention, are still a major concern in the public health sector. Among the main food, source of infection and/or intoxication, bivalve molluscs are included; being filter organisms, they are subject to phenomena of bioaccumulation of substances present in the environment where they live, thus concentrating on their body nutrients and even viruses and bacteria became therefore an important source of health risk. For this reason, their consumption, widespread in Italy, represents one of the major causes of Norovirus infection in our country. European Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 base its microbiological suitability evaluation of bivalve molluscs on the determination of bacteriological parameters (Salmonella spp. and E. coli). The same regulation underlined however, that the determination of faecal indicators is not reliable to demonstrate the absence of viral contamination and to assess the times of purification processes. This study adapts and applies molecular methods for the detection and the quantification of Norovirus in live bivalve molluscs which are farmed and marketed in the region of Sardinia between 2011 and 2013
