Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Jul 22;8(3):107.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens8030107.

Assessing the Occurrence of Waterborne Viruses in Reuse Systems: Analytical Limits and Needs

Charles P Gerba  1 , Walter Q Betancourt  2
Affiliations
Review

Assessing the Occurrence of Waterborne Viruses in Reuse Systems: Analytical Limits and Needs

Charles P Gerba et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Detection of waterborne enteric viruses is an essential tool in assessing the risk of waterborne transmission. Cell culture is considered a gold standard for detection of these viruses. However, it is important to recognize the uncertainty and limitations of enteric virus detection in cell culture. Cell culture cannot support replication of all virus types and strains, and numerous factors control the efficacy of specific virus detection assays, including chemical additives, cell culture passage number, and sequential passage of a sample in cell culture. These factors can result in a 2- to 100-fold underestimation of virus infectivity. Molecular methods reduce the time for detection of viruses and are useful for detection of those that do not produce cytopathogenic effects. The usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to access virus infectivity has been demonstrated for only a limited number of enteric viruses and is limited by an understanding of the mechanism of virus inactivation. All of these issues are important to consider when assessing waterborne infectious viruses and expected goals on virus reductions needed for recycled water. The use of safety factors to account for this may be useful to ensure that the risks in drinking water and recycled water for potable reuse are minimized.

Keywords: cell culture; infectivity; molecular methods; reuse; virus; wastewater.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gibson K.E. Viral pathogens in water: Occurrence, public health impact, and available control strategies. Curr. Opin. Virol. 2014;4:50–57. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2013.12.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gall A.M., Marinas B.J., Lu Y., Shisler J.L. Waterborne Viruses: A Barrier to Safe Drinking Water. PLoS Pathog. 2015;11:e1004867. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004867. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gerba C.P., Betancourt W.Q., Kitajima M. How much reduction of virus is needed for recycled water: A continuous changing need for assessment? Water Res. 2017;108:25–31. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2016.11.020. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. . Title 22 and 17 California Code of Regulations, July 16, 2015. Regulations Related to Recycled Water. State Water Resources Control Board, DIvision of Drinking Water; Sacramento, CA, USA: 2015.
    1. Kitajima M., Iker B.C., Pepper I.L., Gerba C.P. Relative abundance and treatment reduction of viruses during wastewater treatment processes--identification of potential viral indicators. Sci. Total Environ. 2014;488–489:290–296. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.087. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources