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Prevalence of enteric viruses contaminating different types of environmental water. Notably, 182 strains of 13 different enteric viruses were detected.
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Human enteric viruses are a major cause of gastrointestinal illness, and these viruses can be introduced into environmental water through various routes. Viral contamination in water could play a significant role in human health.
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... water samples was also analyzed. Among the 182 virus strains detected in 126 water samples, wastewater and irrigation water were the first and second most polluted types of water, respectively. A total of 100 incidences (55%) of enteric virus strains were detected in wastewater samples, whereas 50 (27%) were detected in irrigation water samples (Fig. 4). In contrast, contamination by enteric viruses in environmental reservoir and river water was found to a lesser degree, at 21.1% and 11.6%, respectively. It should be noted that two or more enteric viruses were detected in each wastewater ...
Citations
... However, enteric viruses tend to be more persistent in the environment and resistant to the removal and disinfection processes typically applied by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) [7,11]. As a result, achieving water quality with the complete removal of viral particles from reclaimed water and preventing their presence in environmental samples has proven challenging [10,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]]. ...
Climate change, unpredictable weather patterns, and droughts are depleting water resources in some parts of the globe, where recycling and reusing wastewater is a strategy for different purposes. To counteract this, the EU regulation for water reuse sets minimum requirements for the use of reclaimed water for agricultural irrigation, including a reduction in human enteric viruses. In the present study, the occurrence of several human enteric viruses, including the human norovirus genogroup I (HuNoV GI), HuNoV GII, and rotavirus (RV), along with viral fecal contamination indicator crAssphage was monitored by using (RT)-qPCR methods on influent wastewater and reclaimed water samples. Moreover, the level of somatic coliphages was also determined as a culturable viral indicator. To assess the potential viral infectivity, an optimization of a capsid integrity PMAxx-RT-qPCR method was performed on sewage samples. Somatic coliphages were present in 60% of the reclaimed water samples, indicating inefficient virus inactivation. Following PMAxx-RT-qPCR optimization, 66% of the samples tested positive for at least one of the analyzed enteric viruses, with concentrations ranging from 2.79 to 7.30 Log10 genome copies (gc)/L. Overall, most of the analyzed reclaimed water samples did not comply with current EU legislation and contained potential infectious viral particles.
... This has been shown to provide early detection of epidemic trends compared to other surveillance sources [2][3][4][5][6]. The technology has potential to detect a range human diseases [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and reach otherwise overlooked communities [14,15]. ...
Background: Testing samples of waste water for markers of infectious disease became a widespread method of surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. While these data generally correlate well with other indicators of national prevalence, samples that cover localised regions tend to be highly variable over short time scales.
Methods: We introduce a procedure for estimating the real-time growth rate of pathogen prevalence using time series data from wastewater sampling. The number of copies of a target gene found in a sample is modelled as time-dependent random variable whose distribution is estimated using maximum likelihood. The output depends on a hyperparameter that controls the sensitivity to variability in the underlying data. We apply this procedure to data reporting the number of copies of the N1 gene of SARS-CoV-2 collected at water treatment works across Scotland between February 2021 and February 2023.
Results: The real-time growth rate of the SARS-CoV-2 prevalence is estimated at 121 wastewater sampling sites covering a diverse range of locations and population sizes. We find that the sensitivity of the fitting procedure to natural variability determines its reliability in detecting the early stages of an epidemic wave. Applying the procedure to hospital admissions data, we find that changes in the growth rate are detected an average of 2 days earlier in wastewater than in hospital admissions data.
Conclusion: We provide a robust method to generate reliable estimates of epidemic growth from highly variable data. Applying this method to samples collected at wastewater treatment works provides highly responsive situational awareness to inform public health.
The objective of this study was to assess the occurrence and seasonal frequency of human adenovirus (HAdV), human polyomavirus (HPyV), and human papillomavirus (HPV) in urban sewage. The detection of these viruses was carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and then the viral concentrations in the positive samples were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Additionally, genotyping of HAdV and HPyV was also performed by PCR. A total of 38/60 (63.3%) positive samples were found. HAdV was the most prevalent virus (26/60; 43.3%), followed by HPyV (21/60; 35%) and HPV (21/60; 35%). The viral concentrations in the positive samples ranged from 3.56 × 102 to 7.55 × 107 genome copies/L. The most common dual viral agents was found between HAdV and HPyV, in eight samples (8/38, 21%). HAdV types 40 and 41 as well as HPyV types JC and BK were identified, with HAdV-40 and HPyV JC being the most prevalent types. Furthermore, the detection rates of HAdV, HPyV, and HPV were higher during the winter season than the other tested seasons. The high prevalence of HAdV and HPyV supports their suitability as viral indicators of sewage contamination. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the advantages of environmental surveillance as a tool to elucidate the community-circulating viruses.
Waterborne viruses that can be harmful to human health pose significant challenges globally, affecting health care systems and the economy. Identifying these waterborne pathogens is essential for preventing diseases and protecting public health. However, handling complex samples such as human and wastewater can be challenging due to their dynamic and complex composition and the ultralow concentration of target analytes. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the latest breakthroughs in waterborne virus biosensors. It begins by highlighting several promising strategies that enhance the sensing performance of optical and electrochemical biosensors in human samples. These strategies include optimizing bioreceptor selection, transduction elements, signal amplification, and integrated sensing systems. Furthermore, the insights gained from biosensing waterborne viruses in human samples are applied to improve biosensing in wastewater, with a particular focus on sampling and sample pretreatment due to the dispersion characteristics of waterborne viruses in wastewater. This review suggests that implementing a comprehensive system that integrates the entire waterborne virus detection process with high-accuracy analysis could enhance virus monitoring. These findings provide valuable insights for improving the effectiveness of waterborne virus detection, which could have significant implications for public health and environmental management.
