Many of the devastating pandemics and outbreaks of the 20th and 21st centuries have involved enveloped viruses, including influenza, HIV, SARS, MERS, and Ebola. However, little is known about the presence and fate of enveloped viruses in municipal wastewater. Here, we compared the survival and partitioning behavior of two model enveloped viruses (MHV and ϕ6) and two nonenveloped bacteriophages (MS2 and T3) in raw wastewater samples. We showed that MHV and ϕ6 remained infective on the time scale of days. Up to 26% of the two enveloped viruses adsorbed to the solid fraction of wastewater compared to 6% of the two nonenveloped viruses. Based on this partitioning behavior, we assessed and optimized methods for recovering enveloped viruses from wastewater. Our optimized ultrafiltration method resulted in mean recoveries (±SD) of 25.1% (±3.6%) and 18.2% (±9.5%) for the enveloped MHV and ϕ6, respectively, and mean recoveries of 55.6% (±16.7%) and 85.5% (±24.5%) for the nonenveloped MS2 and T3, respectively. A maximum of 3.7% of MHV and 2% of MS2 could be recovered from the solids. These results shed light on the environmental fate of an important group of viruses and the presented methods will enable future research on enveloped viruses in water environments.
Several recent high profile outbreaks such as SARS, MERS, Ebola and avian influenzas draw attention to the continued risk of a deadly viral pandemic. In general, these enveloped viruses are not considered a major threat for the wastewater and water industries due to their assumed low concentrations in municipal wastewater and high susceptibilities to degradation in aqueous environments. A number of clinical reports, however, suggest that certain enveloped viruses are excreted in human feces during infection.Furthermore, survivability studies show that many enveloped viruses are capable of retaining infectivity for days to months in aqueous environments. Here, we examine the potential presence and fate of enveloped viruses in the urban water cycle, with emphasis on coronaviruses (e.g., SARS and MERS) and avian influenza viruses. We identify a number of pressing research questions that must be answered before the water and wastewater industries can confidently assure the public, through the dissemination of evidence-based guidance, that irrigation waters, recreation waters, and drinking water sources are safe during a viral outbreak or pandemic event.Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. This journal is
The survivability of viruses in natural and engineered systems impacts public health. Inactivation mechanisms in the environment have been described for nonenveloped viruses, but it remains unclear how the membrane layer of enveloped viruses influences inactivation. We applied molecular tools and high-resolution mass spectrometry to measure reactions in the genome, proteins, and lipids of enveloped Pseudomonas phage Phi6 during inactivation by free chlorine and UV. Free chlorine readily penetrated the lipid membrane to react with proteins in the nucleocapsid and polymerase complex. The most reactive Phi6 peptides were approximately 150 times more reactive with free chlorine than the most reactive peptides reported in nonenveloped coliphage MS2. The inactivation kinetics of Phi6 by UV was comparable with those of nonenveloped adenovirus and coliphage MS2 and were driven by UV reactions with viral genomes. Our research identifies molecular features of an enveloped virus that are susceptible to chemical oxidants or UV radiation. Finally, the framework developed in the manuscript for studying molecular reactivities of Phi6 can be adopted to investigate enveloped virus survivability under various environmental conditions.
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