Detection of enterovirus in environmental waters: A new optimized method compared to commercial real-time RT-qPCR kits

Abstract : Despite the progress in water and wastewater treatment technologies, waterborne diseases are still amajor concern of public health. In the reported water-related outbreaks, viruses constitute one of themain causal agents. Enteroviruses are one of the most viruses monitored in water and are often usedas an indicator of viral pollution. Isolation and identification of this virus are now regularly based onmolecular tools. However published or commercial protocols for detection of these viruses in waterare frequently lacking of validation processes and performance evaluation in such complex samples. Amethod for enterovirus detection in environmental water has been developed, its performance has beenevaluated and compared with several commercial kits.The sensitivity of commercial methods in clinical samples, ranged between 89% and 100%, while thesensitivity in seeded environmental matrices fell between 16% and 91%. This method showed the bestperformance in environmental samples and was subsequently applied on surface and treated wastewa-ter. The results showed the large dissemination of enteroviruses in an urbanized river. The results alsoemphasized the importance of good knowledge of the method’s limits for its utilization in environmentalsamples in order to minimize false negatives and to avoid underestimating viral concentration.