Sapovirus in wastewater treatment plants in Tunisia: Prevalence, removal, and genetic characterization.

This study analyzed the incidence of human SaV in four wastewater treatment plants from Tunisia during a period of 13 months (December 2009 to December 2010). Detection and quantification were carried out using RT-qPCR methods, obtaining a prevalence of 39.9% (87/218). Sixty-one positive samples were detected in untreated water and 26 positive samples in processed water. Dekhila plant presented the highest contamination levels with 63.0% prevalence. A dominance of genotype I.2 was observed on 15 of the 24 positive samples that were genetically characterized. By a Bayesian estimation algorithm, the SaV density in wastewater was estimated using left-censored datasets. The mean value of log SaV concentration in untreated wastewater ranged between 2.7 and 4.5 log units. A virus removal efficiency of 0.2 log units was calculated for the Dekhila plant as the log ratio posterior distributions between untreated and treated wastewater. Multiple quantitative values obtained in this study must be available in quantitative microbial risk assessment in Tunisia as parameter values reflecting local conditions.IMPORTANCEHuman Sapovirus (SaV) are becoming more prevalent worldwide and are recognized as emerging pathogens associated with human gastroenteritis. The present study describes novel findings on the prevalence, seasonality and genotype distribution of SaV, being the first to our knowledge in Tunisia and Northern Africa. In addition, a statistical approximation using Bayesian estimatio...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research