The startling finding comes from an investigation into a recent outbreak of the stomach bug, which is highly contagious and causes vomiting and diarrhoea, among a girls' soccer team in the US.
According to investigators, a reusable grocery bag played a central role in spreading the bug among teenage girls during the soccer tournament in Oregon.
It was found that the bag was stored in a hotel bathroom where one of the girls became ill. The next day, the sick girl went home, but the same was used to deliver cookies and other snacks to the soccer team.
Although the sick girl never touched the bag and didn't have contact with members of her team after her symptoms, seven other girls became sick after eating the snacks.
After testing the bag, the investigators found traces of norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness in the US. The virus on the bag was the same one that had sickened the girls.
It's known that norovirus was capable of aerosolizing, but the study is the first to show that an object contaminated with aerosolized particles can be transported and make other people sick, said study researcher Kimberly Repp of Oregon Health and Science University.
The study highlights the role inanimate objects can play in spreading norovirus, a highly contagious virus, Repp said.
When somebody becomes ill, Repp said, we need not to just think about wiping down the toilet, but also about everything in that room, including toothbrushes and hairbrushes.
When the first member of the soccer team was sick, virus particles in her vomit and feces became airborne and settled on objects in the bathroom, including the reusable grocery bag, the researchers said.
Aerosolization of the virus can especially cause problems in confined spaces such as cruise ships and nursing homes. The virus can become airborne even when a toilet is flushed, Repp said.
The study also shows one of the less obvious hazards of reusable grocery bags, the researchers wrote in the May 9 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
