Detection and molecular characterization of noroviruses from five sewage treatment plants in central Italy

Noroviruses (NoVs) are the most frequent etiological agents of non-bacterial gastroenteritis. These viruses are transmitted through the fecal-oral route, leading to high viral loads in sewages. The objective of this paper was to study the environmental occurrence of the most prevalent NoV strains in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water research (Oxford) 2010-03, Vol.44 (6), p.1777-1784
Main Authors: La Rosa, G., Iaconelli, M., Pourshaban, M., Muscillo, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Circulation
Effluents
Exact sciences and technology
gastroenteritis
Genotype
Influents
Italy
microbial contamination
Molecular Sequence Data
Norovirus
Norovirus - genetics
Norovirus - isolation & purification
Other industrial wastes. Sewage sludge
pathogen identification
PCR inhibition
Phylogenetic analysis
Phylogeny
Pollution
Polymerase Chain Reaction
prevalence
Real-Time RT-PCR
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sequencing
Sewage - virology
sewage treatment
Strain
strains
Strategy
Viruses
Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods
Waste water
Wastes
Wastewater
Wastewater treatment
Water Purification - methods
Water treatment and pollution
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Summary:Noroviruses (NoVs) are the most frequent etiological agents of non-bacterial gastroenteritis. These viruses are transmitted through the fecal-oral route, leading to high viral loads in sewages. The objective of this paper was to study the environmental occurrence of the most prevalent NoV strains in different wastewater treatment plants. In addition, molecular characterization of the isolated strains was performed. Two different PCR-based methods were carried out and a novel strategy was used to verify the level of RT-PCR inhibition. From May to September 2007, a total of 97 inflow and outflow samples were collected from five wastewater treatment plants in central Italy. We detected NoV by nested PCR in 96.9% of influent samples: 89.1% contained both genogroups; 4.7% contained only GI and 3.1% only GII. In effluents, we detected NoV in 78.8% of samples: 30.3% contained both genogroups, and 48.5% contained only GI. The major genotypes detected by sequencing analyses were GI/2, GI/5, GII/b, GII/4 and GII/6. This work confirms the wide circulation of NoVs in Italy with a predominance of GI strains, and the widespread distribution of NoV variants in both raw and treated wastewater.
ISSN:0043-1354
1879-2448
DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2009.11.055