Polyethylene glycol precipitation for recovery of pathogenic viruses, including hepatitis A virus and human rotavirus, from oyster, water, and sediment samples.

Polyethylene glycol 6000 precipitation was found to be an effective concentration method that enhanced the chances for detecting human virus pathogens in environmental samples. Percent recoveries from eluates of fresh and estuarine waters with 8% polyethylene glycol 6000 averaged 86 for hepatitis A virus, 77 for human rotavirus Wa, 87 for simian rotavirus SA11, and 68 for poliovirus. Percent recoveries of 97, 40, 97 and 105, respectively, for the same viruses were obtained from oyster eluates by the same procedure. Percent recoveries of 97 for hepatitis A virus and 78 for human rotavirus Wa were obtained from sediment eluates containing 2 M NaNO3 with a final concentration of 15% polyethylene glycol 6000. The polyethylene glycol method was shown to be more effective than the organic flocculation method for recovery of hepatitis A virus and rotaviruses Wa and SA11, but not of poliovirus 1 in laboratory studies. In field trials, hepatitis A virus or rotavirus or both were recovered from 12 of 18 eluates by polyethylene glycol, compared with recovery from 9 of 18 eluates by organic flocculation from fresh and estuarine waters subject to pollution.