Use of F-Specific RNA Bacteriophage to Estimate Infectious Norovirus Levels in Oysters

Lowther, James; Cross, Lisa J.; Stapleton, Tina; Gustar, Nicole E.; Walker, Duard L.; Sills, Michael; Treagus, Samantha; Pollington, V.; Lees, David N.

doi:10.1007/s12560-019-09383-3

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…FRNAPH, which are also known to exhibit increased accumulation in oysters during the winter period (3,42), were detected in high concentrations for both infectious particles and genomes. The presence of FRNAPH-II genome was indicative of potential human pollution as previously shown (24) and therefore of a significant correlation with the presence of NoV genomes in oysters (8,22). The presence of E. coli was suggestive of a recent fecal pollution event considering that they have a low persistence in oysters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…In that study, although contamination of the positive batches was a priori linked to wastewater discharges from a treatment plant and a boat, the authors pointed out that the five negative samples had probably been affected by individual contamination. More recently, when targeting the presence of FRNAPH and NoV in oysters, Lowther et al (8) demonstrated that both viruses were in higher concentrations in outbreak-related samples and that infectious FRNAPH were detected in all outbreak samples (n ϭ 9). The same authors suggested that combining RT-qPCR testing with a test for infectious FRNAPH detection could improve NoV risk assessment in shellfish.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the concentration of E. coli detected in 100 g of flesh and intervalvular fluid (FIL), purification processes (relaying [i.e., shellfish storage in unpolluted water] or depuration [i.e., shellfish storage in treated seawater]) are implemented to achieve acceptable levels of E. coli in mollusks before putting them on the market (6). However, NoV outbreaks associated with the consumption of oysters compliant with EU regulations have been reported (7,8). To date, it is well acknowledged that this bacterial criterion has numerous limitations (9) and does not reflect the behavior of pathogenic viruses in shellfish (10)(11)(12).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

F-Specific RNA Bacteriophages Model the Behavior of Human Noroviruses during Purification of Oysters: the Main Mechanism Is Probably Inactivation Rather than Release

Leduc

Leclerc

Challant

et al. 2020

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Noroviruses (NoV) are responsible for many shellfish outbreaks. Purification processes may be applied to oysters before marketing to decrease potential fecal pollution. This step is rapidly highly effective in reducing Escherichia coli; nevertheless, the elimination of virus genomes has been described to be much slower. It is therefore important to identify (i) the purification conditions that optimize virus removal and (ii) the mechanism involved. To this end, the effects of oyster stress, nutrients, and the presence of a potential competitor to NoV adhesion during purification were investigated using naturally contaminated oysters. Concentrations of NoV (genomes) and of the viral indicator F-specific RNA bacteriophage (FRNAPH; genomes and infectious particles) were regularly monitored. No significant differences were observed under the test conditions. The decrease kinetics of both virus genomes were similar, again showing the potential of FRNAPH as an indicator of NoV behavior during purification. The T90 (time to reduce 90% of the initial titer) values were 47.8 days for the genogroup I NoV genome, 26.7 days for the genogroup II NoV genome, and 43.9 days for the FRNAPH-II genome. Conversely, monitoring of the viral genomes could not be used to determine the behavior of infectious viruses because the T90 values were more than two times lower for infectious FRNAPH (20.6 days) compared to their genomes (43.9 days). Finally, this study highlighted that viruses are primarily inactivated in oysters rather than released in the water during purification processes. IMPORTANCE This study provides new data about the behavior of viruses in oysters under purification processes and about their elimination mechanism. First, a high correlation has been observed between F-specific RNA bacteriophages of subgroup II (FRNAPH-II) and norovirus (NoV) in oysters impacted by fecal contamination when both are detected using molecular approaches. Second, when using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and culture to detect FRNAPH-II genomes and infectious FRNAPH in oysters, respectively, it appears that genome detection provides limited information about the presence of infectious particles. The comparison of both genomes and infectious particles highlights that the main mechanism of virus elimination in oysters is inactivation. Finally, this study shows that none of the conditions tested modify virus removal.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

F-Specific RNA Bacteriophages Model the Behavior of Human Noroviruses during Purification of Oysters: the Main Mechanism Is Probably Inactivation Rather than Release

Leduc

Leclerc

Challant

et al. 2020

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These specific interactions favor HuNoV accumulation in digestive tissues [38,40]. The accumulation of FRNAPHs in the digestive tissue of oysters is also well documented [25,36,41]. Further experiments are required to better understand the specific and/or non-specific interactions between infectious FRNAPHs and the soft tissue of zebra mussels.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Utility of Dreissena polymorpha for Assessing the Viral Contamination of Rivers by Measuring the Accumulation of F-Specific RNA Bacteriophages

Capizzi-Banas

Ladeiro

Bastien

et al. 2021

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

River water that receives treated wastewater can be contaminated by pathogens including enteric viruses due to fecal pollution, which may represent an important public health hazard. There is a great diversity of enteric viruses and fecal bacteriophages, especially F-specific RNA bacteriophages (FRNAPHs), are commonly proposed as indicators of viral pollution due to a variety of characteristics such as their structural similarities to the main enteric viruses, their high concentrations in raw wastewater and their environmental survival rate, which is better than other cultivable enteric viruses. However, evaluating the viral contamination of water on the basis of FRNAPH concentration levels continues to present a challenge. This is because the quality of detection is strongly dependent on the quantity of viral particles, high spatio-temporal variabilities and the physico-chemical conditions of the water during sampling. To overcome these limitations, the present study aims to evaluate whether the bivalve mollusk Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) could be considered a suitable experimental model for assessing the viral contamination of rivers. In order to determine this, the capacity of D. polymorpha to accumulate FRNAPHs and assimilate them into their soft tissue was studied. This provided a proof of concept for the use of D. polymorpha to evaluate the viral contamination of surface water. Two experiments were conducted: (1) an in situ experiment to confirm that zebra mussels naturally accumulated FRNAPHs and (2) a laboratory experiment to determine the accumulation and depuration kinetics of FRNAPHs in D. polymorpha tissue. The study highlights the capacity of the mussels to accumulate infectious FRNAPHs both on a laboratory scale under controlled conditions as well as in situ at different sites that are representative of different bodies of water. An analysis of the mussels’ soft tissue showed that they were capable of reflecting the water’s contamination level very quickly (within less than 24 h). Moreover, the soft tissue retained the viral load much longer than the water due to a low depuration rate. The analysis of FRNAPH concentrations in mussels exposed in situ suggested that there were differences in contamination levels between sites. These preliminary results underline the potential utility of zebra mussels in assessing viral contamination by measuring the accumulation of FRNAPHs in their tissue. This may ultimately enable stakeholders to use zebra mussels as a means of monitoring viral pollution in surface water.

show abstract

“…Combining RT-qPCR testing with a viability assay for infectious FRNAP has been reported to have the potential to better estimate health risks, and to better predict the presence of infectious norovirus than RT-qPCR testing alone (Lowther, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to reduce norovirus (NoV) contamination from oysters under depuration conditions

Younger

Neish

Walker

et al. 2020

Food and Chemical Toxicology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Use of F-Specific RNA Bacteriophage to Estimate Infectious Norovirus Levels in Oysters

Cited by 21 publications

References 36 publications

F-Specific RNA Bacteriophages Model the Behavior of Human Noroviruses during Purification of Oysters: the Main Mechanism Is Probably Inactivation Rather than Release

F-Specific RNA Bacteriophages Model the Behavior of Human Noroviruses during Purification of Oysters: the Main Mechanism Is Probably Inactivation Rather than Release

The Utility of Dreissena polymorpha for Assessing the Viral Contamination of Rivers by Measuring the Accumulation of F-Specific RNA Bacteriophages

Strategies to reduce norovirus (NoV) contamination from oysters under depuration conditions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About