Are viruses in recreational waters of Salta Argentina a threat to health?

CHÁVEZ DÍAZ LUCÍA; RAMIRO POMA; DOLORES GUTIÉRREZ CACCIABUE; VERÓNICA RAJAL

Salta

Simposio; III Simposio Latinoamericano de Virología Ambiental; 2016

Laboratorio de Aguas y Suelos-INIQUI-CONICET

Environmental waters are intensively used by peoplefor recreational proposes. When water is contaminated mainly by pathogens, itbecomes a health risk due to a variety of waterborne diseases that can betransmitted when people come in contact with it. Although legislationshave established the use of bacteria to assess water quality, they cannotensure the presence of virus. The aim of this work was to detect and quantifyviruses in recreational waters by real-time PCR (qPCR). For that, two aquaticenvironments: Wierna River and General Belgrano Reservoir located in Salta,Argentina, were monitored during wet season. Three different samples were takenfrom each environment: one before a storm, the second a day after it, and thelast one a few weeks after the storm. Since viruses may be present at lowconcentrations, ultrafiltration was used to concentrate virus, from 20 litersof water to a final volume of 50 ml. Before concentration each sample was spikedwith a known amount of the bacteriophage PP7 used as control to calculate the recoveryof the process. The concentrate was used for the determination of Enterovirus,Adenovirus, and Norovirus by qPCR. Adenovirus were found in two samples from 21concentrates. This indicates that the presence of viruses in water during thewet season may represent a threat to our health.