Mengovirus as Process Control Virus in the Monitoring of Genomic RNA and Infectivity of Enteric Viruses in Water Matrices

Daniel Salvador,Rui Neves Carneiro,Célia Neto,Maria Filomena Caeiro

doi:10.3390/w13202834

Daniel Salvador, Rui Neves Carneiro + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w13202834

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Abstract

The present study, developed in the scope of a survey to monitor enteric viruses in natural surface water and drinking water sources, addressed the suitability of mengovirus to assess viral recovery rates at two steps of the water sampling process. In a pilot campaign comprising two samples from each type of water source, when mengovirus was added after the filtration/primary concentration step, the recovery rates of viral RNA were higher than 18% and identical for both water matrices. In a one-year sampling campaign, where mengovirus was present along the whole sample processing (addition in the filtration/primary concentration step), significantly different recovery rates were observed between water matrices: usually higher than 1% in drinking water and under 1% in surface water. The results suggest the first stage of the water sampling process and the type of water matrix are the most influential factors for viral RNA recovery. This study also addressed and evidenced mengovirus replication and titration in Vero E6 cultures and showed infectious mengovirus to be recovered from samples of both types of water matrix. These results anticipate a more comprehensive applicability of mengovirus as a process control virus in the monitoring of viruses in water, extended to viral infectivity.

Highlights

Water safety is essential in today’s societies [1]
In two sampling campaigns, carried out in May 2018 and January–December 2019, surface water and drinking water were surveyed for a group of enteric viruses (Enterovirus, HAV, hepatitis E virus (HEV) and Norovirus), by the application of Method 1615 [12]
In the 2018 pilot sampling, mengovirus was detected in the four samples analyzed (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Water safety is essential in today’s societies [1]. From this perspective, the monitoring of this resource is essential to avoid exposure to pathogenic agents [2,3,4], whose presence in drinking water production and distribution systems can have a high impact on public health; health may be affected and the consumers’ confidence in the water that is provided [2]. There are more than 200, distributed across different families such as, for example, Adenoviridae, Astroviridae, Caliciviridae, Hepeviridae, Reoviridae, and Picornaviridae They replicate in the gastrointestinal tract and are transmitted mainly through the fecal-oral route [5], where contaminated water and food are the main transmission vehicles. Water contamination can occur in different ways, namely through disruptions in sewerage networks, untreated wastewater discharges, industrial waste discharges, open defecation, ship discharges in ports and surface runoff [2,3,4,5,6] These pathogens are released in large numbers in the feces of carriers during infection, being more resistant than bacteria to changing environmental conditions (e.g., temperature and pH) [4,5,6]. When entering the bodies of humans or other animals, they can cause a diverse range of symptoms such as gastroenteritis, fever and, in extreme cases, death [6]

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