Recovery of influenza A viruses from lake water and sediments by experimental inoculation

Abstract

Influenza A viruses (IAV) are zoonotic pathogens relevant to human, domestic animal and wildlife health. Many avian IAVs are transmitted among waterfowl via a faecal-oral-route. Therefore, environmental water where waterfowl congregate may play an important role in the ecology and epidemiology of avian IAV. Water and sediment may sustain and transmit virus among individuals or species. It is unclear at what concentrations waterborne viruses are infectious or remain detectable. To address this, we performed lake water and sediment dilution experiments with varying concentrations or infectious doses of four IAV strains from seal, turkey, duck and gull. To test for infectivity of the IAV strains in a concentration dependent manner, we applied cultivation to specific pathogen free (SPF) embryonated chicken eggs and Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells. IAV recovery was more effective from embryonated chicken eggs than MDCK cells for freshwater lake dilutions, whereas, MDCK cells were more effective for viral recovery from sediment samples. Low infectious dose (1 PFU/200 μL) was sufficient in most cases to detect and recover IAV from lake water dilutions. Sediment required higher initial infectious doses (≥ 100 PFU/200 μL).

Year-Round Influenza a Virus Surveillance in Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) Reveals Genetic Persistence During the Under-Sampled Spring Season

“…Though isolation of genetically similar viruses from migratory mallards in successive seasons does not solve the issue of viral persistence and whether that persistence occurs within the waterfowl population or with the added interaction of the environment, it does suggest that IAVs can persist and evolve within a single location over successive seasons, throughout the annual cycle of waterfowl. Many factors, such as water, sediment, and other organisms, have been hypothesized to play a role in maintenance of IAV in the environment and therefore the wild bird population during the overwintering and spring period [ 21 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. However, these mechanisms are mostly investigated as in vitro studies performed in the laboratory or are experimental in nature with limited field-based evidence.…”

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses at the Wild–Domestic Bird Interface in Europe: Future Directions for Research and Surveillance

“…The longest LPAI virus persistence in samples from the environment was observed for water samples, followed by sediment, surfaces, and air [ 113 ]. In addition, LPAI virus cultivation from water samples required minimal viral titres, compared with IAV cultivation from sediment [ 117 ]. Furthermore, mathematical models suggest that environmental reservoirs could play an important role in the ecology of LPAI viruses [ 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 ].…”

Detection of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus Subtype H10N7 in Poultry and Environmental Water Samples During a Clinical Outbreak in Commercial Free-Range Layers, Netherlands 2017

“…Therefore, various methods have been developed for detecting AIV in water. Several studies have reported methods to detect AIV in surface water during field infections of AIV (12)(13)(14)(15), however, most of these studies only showed the efficiency of their methods under laboratory circumstances (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24).…”