Abstract
Irrigation water is a doorway for the pathogen contamination of fresh produce. We quantified pathogenic viruses [human adenoviruses, noroviruses of genogroups I and II, group A rotaviruses, Aichi virus 1 (AiV-1), enteroviruses (EnVs), and salivirus (SaliV)] and examined potential index viruses [JC and BK polyomaviruses (JCPyVs and BKPyVs), pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)] in irrigation water sources in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. River, sewage, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, pond, canal, and groundwater samples were collected in September 2014, and in April and August 2015. Viruses were concentrated using an electronegative membrane-vortex method and quantified using TaqMan (MGB)-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays with murine norovirus as a molecular process control to determine extraction-reverse transcription-qPCR efficiency. Tested pathogenic viruses were prevalent with maximum concentrations of 5.5–8.8 log10 copies/L, and there was a greater abundance of EnVs, SaliV, and AiV-1. Virus concentrations in river water were equivalent to those in sewage. Canal, pond, and groundwater samples were found to be less contaminated than river, sewage, and WWTP effluent. Seasonal dependency was clearly evident for most of the viruses, with peak concentrations in the dry season. JCPyVs and BKPyVs had a poor detection ratio and correspondence with pathogenic viruses. Instead, the frequently proposed PMMoV and the newly proposed TMV were strongly predictive of the pathogen contamination level, particularly in the dry season. We recommend utilizing canal, pond, and groundwater for irrigation to minimize deleterious health effects and propose PMMoV and TMV as indexes to elucidate pathogenic virus levels in environmental samples.
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Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) Programs led by Professor Futaba Kazama of the University of Yamanashi. It is also supported by the Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No. 17H03332) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The authors would like to thank members of Medical Microbiology and Public Health Research laboratory of Institute of Medicine in Nepal for helping to conduct microbial analysis.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) Programs entitled ‘Hydro-microbiological Approach for Water Security in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal’ led by Professor Futaba Kazama of the University of Yamanashi which is jointly funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). It is also supported by the Grant-in Aid forthe Scientific Research (B) (No. 17H03332) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
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Shrestha, S., Shrestha, S., Shindo, J. et al. Virological Quality of Irrigation Water Sources and Pepper Mild Mottle Virus and Tobacco Mosaic Virus as Index of Pathogenic Virus Contamination Level. Food Environ Virol 10, 107–120 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-017-9324-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-017-9324-2