Recombinant HAV VP1 (genotype 3)

Water contaminated with pathogenic microbes is a global problem for human health. Although viruses often occur in relatively low concentrations in environmental waters, they remain a potential hazard requiring rapid and sensitive detection methods to help preventing outbreaks. Enteric viruses can be excreted in faeces from both ill and healthy individuals and several studies have reported the presence of enteric viruses in surface waters even when bacterial indicators were not detected. Viruses may be more resilient to environmental stressors, allowing them to survive for extended periods of time [1]. For example, Adenovirus F can also be used as an indicator of faecal pollution, but detection requires alternative approaches, mainly based on molecular technologies [2]. Enteric viruses are causative agents of many non-bacterial gastrointestinal and respiratory infections, but also conjunctivitis and hepatitis causing periods of debilitating illness and/or high morbidity and mortality in immuno-compromised individuals [1,3]. After infection, enteric viruses infect and replicate in the gastrointestinal tract, or in other organs of their hosts, and are released in large quantities; about 105 to 1011 virus particles per gram of stool [4]. The majority of excreted viruses are nonenveloped, which makes them highly resistant to external stress ors in the aquatic environment. They are also resilient to decontamination processes used in drinking and wastewater treatments [5], and there is ample evidence for the survival of enteric viruses during wastewater treatment [6]. Because of their potential low, but infective doses, large volumes of environmental water are required (up to 100 L) in order to obtain representative samples for the detection of viruses. Viral particles can be concentrated from the water samples using several approaches, including ultrafiltration, ultracentrifugation, and adsorption elution [7]. Ultrafiltration and ultracentrifugation have been successfully used to capture and concentrate viruses from large sample volumes of environmental water [8]. By means of methodologies capable of concentrate large volumes of water from different Italian water basins, this work was aimed at searching for the most significant enteric viral species from aquatic ecosystems of two Italian Region. The species targeted in this work are commonly found in surface waters and included Adenoviruses (51 types of Human Adenoviruses: ADVTot. ADV41 and ADV40), Hepatitis A Virus (HAV), Human Enterovirus (HE), Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) Mammalian Orthoreoviruses (MRV) and Norovirus (Genotype I and II: NoGGI and NoGGII).

This study evaluated the impact of sewage discharge in recreational coastal marine environments of Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over a six-month period by the detection of waterborne enteric viruses. Ten-liter water samples were collected in four beaches from January to July 2017. Viruses were concentrated by an organic flocculation and human adenoviruses (HAdV), polyomavirus (JCPyV), and Hepatitis A virus (HAV) detected by qPCR. Forty-eight water samples were collected, being 43% positive for HAdV and 23% for JCPyV; only one sample was positive for HAV. Viruses were detected in all sampling sites, including in areas suitable for bathing according to the current bacterial standards. The results herein provide an overview of the viral contamination of beaches used for recreational purposes. The viral presence in the sampled areas indicates the need for more rigid effluent discharge controls in these areas, as sewage represents a possible transmission risk for waterborne viral diseases.