CaliciNet is a national surveillance network that detects norovirus strains during gastroenteritis outbreaks, making it easier to find to a common source, monitor circulating strains and detect emerging ones.
Contact the Food Safety team: [email protected]
CaliciNet is a national norovirus outbreak surveillance network, comprised of federal, state and local public health laboratories that detect and subtype norovirus strains associated with gastroenteritis outbreaks. This critical network, managed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allows CDC to compare norovirus strains from outbreaks and potentially link them to a common source, monitor circulating strains and detect emerging ones.​
Norovirus​ is a significant source of gastrointestinal illness and contributes up to 50% of all foodborne outbreak​​s in the United ​States.
Learn more about Norovirus
Since CaliciNet's inception in 2009, APHL has worked closely with CDC partners and our members to help advance and champion this critical surveillance network. ​
APHL supports CaliciNet activities through training, technical meetings and information dissemination. APHL provides logistical and travel support for annual training workshops for local and state public health laboratorians and coordinates the CaliciNet User Group meeting and other meetings as needed.
APHL contracts annually with five CaliciNet Outbreak Support Centers (OSCs), through funding from CDC. The OSC's are certified laboratories that test specimens and sequence strains from norovirus outbreaks from state and local health laboratories that are not certified to participate in CaliciNet.
The additional outbreak testing conducted through the OSC contracts provides a more comprehensive picture of predominating norovirus strains in the US and has provided invaluable information during outbreaks leading to multistate product recalls. Comprehensive CaliciNet data are published on CDC's website.
APHL contracts annually with industry partners to provide national proficiency test (PT) panels. Routine PT for CaliciNet laboratories help identify testing and data analysis challenges among participants and ensure consistent performance across the network to maintain a robust database and the latest methodologies. Maintaining a proficiency program allows for numerous benefits which can significantly reduce the economic burden mentioned previously. Some of the benefits include:
