Concentration and detection of hepatitis A virus and its indicator from artificial seawater using zeolite

• Published in: Journal of virological methods Vol. 235; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Cormier, Jiemin, Janes, Marlene
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Concentration; Filtration; financial economics; freshwater; Hepatitis A virus; Hepatitis A virus - isolation & purification; Hepatovirus A; quantitative polymerase chain reaction; rapid methods; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction - economics; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; RNA, Viral - analysis; Salinity; Seawater; Seawater - virology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; viral hepatitis; viruses; Zeolite; Zeolites; Hepatitis A virus; Zeolite; Concentration; Seawater
• ISSN: 0166-0934; 1879-0984
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2016.04.020

•Zeolite was able to concentrate 99% of hepatitis A virus from artificial seawater.•SDS (5%, pH 11.2) was able to elute 5.5 out of 7.7 log units of HAV from zeolite.•The described concentration/elution process can be completed in 2h.•The concentration/elution efficiency was highest in 10ppt artificial seawater. Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is the leading worldwide cause of acute viral hepatitis, and outbreaks caused by this virus often occur in fecal polluted waters. Rapid concentration and detection of viral contamination in water environments can prevent economic loss and can identify the source of contamination within a short time. However, conventional methods for virus concentration are often laborious, time consuming, and subject to clogging. Furthermore, most methods require a secondary concentration step to reduce the final volume of samples. We developed a method to concentrate HAV from seawater using zeolite in aid of rapid detection. In this method,artificial seawater was inoculated with HAV (7–8 log TCID50) and filtered with zeolite. The viruses were then eluted from zeolite with sodium dodecyl sulfate and detected via real-time PCR (qPCR). Zeolite was able to concentrate HAV from artificial seawater with ∼99% efficiency in less than 5min and was more efficient in seawater than in fresh water. The entire concentration and detection can be done in approximately 2h. Compared to existing methods, this method eliminated the need for a secondary concentration step as well as the necessity to modify the pH or salinity of the seawater during concentration, and was simple and inexpensive.