Detection of Enteroviruses in Influent and Effluent Flow Samples from Wastewater Treatment Plants in Italy

Abstract

This study evaluated the presence and seasonal distribution of polio and other enteroviruses in four wastewater treatment plants in three cities in Italy, using different treatment systems. Detection of enteroviruses was carried out by virus isolation in cell cultures after concentration of water samples collected at both inlet and outlet of the treatment plants, following the methods described in the WHO guidelines. Viral serotypes isolated before and after water treatment were compared. Forty-eight non-polio enteroviruses were isolated from 312 samples collected at the inlet of the four wastewater treatment plants, 35 of which were Coxsackievirus type B (72.9 %) and 13 Echovirus (27.1 %). After treatment, 2 CVB3, 1 CVB5, and 1 Echo 6 were isolated. CVB3 and Echo 6 serotypes were also detected in samples collected at the inlet of the TP, in the same month and year. The high rate of detection of infectious enteroviruses in inlet sewage samples (30.1 %) indicates wide diffusion of these viruses in the populations linked to the collectors. The incomplete removal of infectious viruses following sewage treatment highlights possible risks for public health relate to treated waters discharge into the environment.

Sporadic Isolation of Sabin-Like Polioviruses and High-Level Detection of Non-Polio Enteroviruses during Sewage Surveillance in Seven Italian Cities, after Several Years of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccination

“…In contrast, only a few recent investigations have been performed using detailed serotyping of enterovirus strains in Italian wastewaters (32,33,34,52) compared to a higher number of similar studies reported from other countries (53,54,55,56,57,58).…”

Detection of Pathogenic Viruses in Sewage Provided Early Warnings of Hepatitis A Virus and Norovirus Outbreaks

“…Since an infected person excretes 10 7 to 10 13 virus particles per day (19), analysis of incoming sewage may be a useful tool to reveal the presence of and quantify excreted fecal human pathogens and thereby give an estimation of the number of infected persons. Most studies on enteric viruses in sewage only detect the viruses and do not relate the virus sequences identified in sewage to those from patients from the same sampling time and region (27,(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42). Several of the techniques for virus detection in sewage have also been developed for detection of poliovirus in line with the WHO polio eradication program (36,(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49).…”

Biological HRPs in wastewater

“…In the study of the virus safety of water, enterovirus is often used as a representative, because the discharge of the virus is large and detoxification often needs a long time. The incomplete removal of enterovirus by the wastewater treatment also highlights the resistance and potential health risk for the public after discharging into the natural environment (Battistone et al, 2014).…”