Although we have already done Norovirus as a Microbe of the Month, it is well worth covering the latest development with this virus as well.

Just to give some background, Norovirus is the number one cause of food poisoning in the USA and is significant in all other countries. It causes diarrhoea and vomiting, and the recognised method for preventing and eliminating it is through good handwashing. It is also known for being highly contagious.

There is now news of a potential vaccine for this huge health issue.

Although the trials were done on mice, who are unable to produce the traditional Norovirus symptom of diarrhoea, a subsitute virus with similar properties to Norovirus was used after being specially developed for the trial.

The trials found that an experimental vaccine was able to produce a very strong immune response, particularly in the gastro intestinal tract, to the virus used without causing the mice any harm.

The same vaccine has previously been successfully trialled against HIV and Hepatitis C, the reserch scientists decided to try it against the Norovirus as well.

The research appears in the current issue of the Journal of Virology.

"The mice in our study developed a much higher antibody response to our vaccine candidate than they did to a more traditional vaccine. That's one of the keys, to have a sustained antibody response, so that when the disease comes along, you can neutralize the virus and protect yourself," said Jianrong Li, senior author of the study and Assistant Professor of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State University .

The next step in the trial will be introducing the virus and vaccine to a group of pigs, who produce the same symptoms as humans.

It will be sometime before human trials are conducted, and even longer until a vaccine may be available to counteract the nearly 21 million cases (according the the Center for Disease Control) of food poisoning attributed to Norovirus in the USA.