Fecal Source Tracking in A Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation System Using Multiple Waterborne Gastroenteritis Viruses
by
Zheng Ji 1,2, Xiaochang C. Wang 2
, Limei Xu 2, Chongmiao Zhang 2, Cheng Rong 2, Andri Taruna Rachmadi 3, 
Mohan Amarasiri 4, Satoshi Okabe 5, Naoyuki Funamizu 6 and Daisuke Sano 3,4,*
Zheng Ji 1,2, Xiaochang C. Wang 2, Limei Xu 2, Chongmiao Zhang 2, Cheng Rong 2, Andri Taruna Rachmadi 3, Mohan Amarasiri 4, Satoshi Okabe 5, Naoyuki Funamizu 6 and Daisuke Sano 3,4,*
1
National Demonstration Center for Experimental Geography Education, School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
2
Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China
3
Department of Frontier Science for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
4
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
5
Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13, West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 011-Mizumoto-cho 27-1, Muroran, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
6
Department, Muroran Institute of Technology, Mizumoto-cho 27-1, Muroran, Hokkaido 050-8585, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Pathogens 2019, 8(4), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8040170
Received: 22 August 2019 / Revised: 26 September 2019 / Accepted: 27 September 2019 / Published: 30 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Enteric Viruses in Aquatic Environments)
Gastroenteritis viruses in wastewater reclamation systems can pose a major threat to public health. In this study, multiple gastroenteritis viruses were detected from wastewater to estimate the viral contamination sources in a wastewater treatment and reclamation system installed in a suburb of Xi’an city, China. Reverse transcription plus nested or semi-nested PCR, followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, were used for detection and genotyping of noroviruses and rotaviruses. As a result, 91.7% (22/24) of raw sewage samples, 70.8% (17/24) of the wastewater samples treated by anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A2O) process and 62.5% (15/24) of lake water samples were positive for at least one of target gastroenteritis viruses while all samples collected from membrane bioreactor effluent after free chlorine disinfection were negative. Sequence analyses of the PCR products revealed that epidemiologically minor strains of norovirus GI (GI/14) and GII (GII/13) were frequently detected in the system. Considering virus concentration in the disinfected MBR effluent which is used as the source of lake water is below the detection limit, these results indicate that artificial lake may be contaminated from sources other than the wastewater reclamation system, which may include aerosols, and there is a possible norovirus infection risk by exposure through reclaimed water usage and by onshore winds transporting aerosols containing norovirus.
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Keywords:
waterborne gastroenteritis viruses; fecal source tracking; wastewater reclamation; viral contamination
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MDPI and ACS Style
Ji, Z.; Wang, X.C.; Xu, L.; Zhang, C.; Rong, C.; Rachmadi, A.T.; Amarasiri, M.; Okabe, S.; Funamizu, N.; Sano, D. Fecal Source Tracking in A Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation System Using Multiple Waterborne Gastroenteritis Viruses. Pathogens 2019, 8, 170.
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