Assessment of adenovirus, hepatitis A virus and rotavirus presence in environmental samples in Florianopolis, South Brazil

Abstract

Aims: To assess the presence of human adenovirus (HAdV), hepatitis A (HAV) virus and rotavirus A (RV‐A) in environmental samples from the Southern region of Brazil and to provide viral contamination data for further epidemiological studies and governmental actions. Methods and Results: Water samples from various sources (seawater, lagoon brackish water, urban wastewater, drinking water sources‐with and without chlorination and water derived from a polluted creek) and oysters of two growing areas were analysed by enzymatic amplification (nested PCR and RT‐PCR), quantification of HAdV genome (qPCR) and viral viability assay by integrated cell culture‐PCR (ICC‐PCR). From June 2007 to May 2008 in a total of 84 water samples, 54 (64·2%) were positive for HAdV, 16 (19%) for RV‐A and 7 (8·3%) for HAV. Viability assays showed nonpositive samples for HAV; though, infectious viruses were confirmed for RV‐A (12·5%) and HAdV (88·8%). Oyster samples by PCR were positive for HAdV (87·5%) and RV‐A (8·3%), but none for HAV. Quantitative PCR in oysters showed means loads in genomic copies (gc) of 9·1 × 104 gc g−1 (oyster farm south) and 1·5 × 105 gc g−1 (oyster farm north) and in waters ranging from 2·16 × 106 (lagoon water) to 1·33 × 107 gc l−1 (untreated drinking water). Conclusions: This study has shown a widespread distribution of the analysed viruses in this particular region with high loads of HAdV in the environment which suggests the relevance of evaluating these viruses as positive indicators of viral contamination of water. Significance and Impact of the Study: The environmental approach in this study provides data concerning the prevalence, viability and quantification of enteric viruses in environmental waters and oysters in the South region of Brazil and has indicated that their presence might pose a risk to population in contact with the environmental samples searched.

Epidemiological surveillance of enteric viruses in sewage samples in East Macedonia and Thrace region in Greece

“…The only three positive samples for the virus of hepatitis A are expressed with the rate of 2% is not possible to draw conclusions. The presence of the virus in a small proportion in our study is in agreement with a recent study done in Brazil [28] . In the case of the experiments conducted Arraj and colleagues in France in sewage treatment plant is also not isolated hepatitis A virus [29] .…”

Assessment of enteric viruses in a sewage treatment plant located in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil

“…Many studies have found that, despite the treatment applied, enteric viruses may persist in high levels in wastewaters (He and Jiang, 2005;Villar et al, 2007;Carducci et al, 2008;Fong et al, 2010;Kokkinos et al, 2010;La Rosa et al, 2010a, b;Prado et al, 2011), proposing the use of a viral indicator of treated sewage contamination.…”

“…Similarly to the enteric viruses, Torque teno virus (TTV), an emerging virus discovered from hepatitis patients and healthy persons as well, exhibits similar behaviour: it is relatively resistant to heat inactivation and also excreted by the fecal route. However, its role as a pathogenic agent remains unclear (Wilhelmi et al, 2003).…”

“…In Brazil, some studies have been carried out for this purpose (Villar et al, 2007;Barrella et al, 2009;Victoria et al, 2010;Prado et al, 2011), nevertheless, to the knowledge of the authors, none of them was performed in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, the capital of the state (Figure 1) (Porto Alegre, 2011).…”

Evaluation of enterovirus 71 immune status in São Paulo state, Brazil

“…Enterovirus are commonly acquired by fecal-oral contamination, therefore numerous variables may be associated with Enterovirus seroprevalence including sources of drinking water, sewage systems (or lack thereof), socioeconomic factors, and behavior relating to hygiene. In fact, several Enterovirus infections and viral gastroenteritis outbreaks have been microbiologically linked to contaminated municipal water supplies 6,17 , including in Brazil 16 .…”