Kittigul Leera, Rupprom Kitwadee, Thongpanich Yuwanda, Neamhom Thanakrit, Utrarachkij Fuangfa
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, 420/1 Ratchawithi Road, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Food Environ Virol. 2025 May 23;17(2):31. doi: 10.1007/s12560-025-09647-1.
Norovirus and rotavirus are the major causes of acute gastroenteritis in humans worldwide. Due to their small size, these enteric viruses present in wastewater become aerosolized. The objective of this study was to assess the presence and concentrations of norovirus and rotavirus in aerosol samples collected from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Thailand. A developed method for concentrating viruses and performing molecular detection was used to determine naturally occurring enteric viruses. Of the 24 collected aerosol samples, 8 (33.3%) and 2 (8.3%) tested positive for norovirus RNA using RT-qPCR and RT-nested PCR, respectively. Based on RT-qPCR, norovirus GII RNA was detected more frequently in aerosol samples (7/24, 29.2%) compared to norovirus GI RNA (2/24, 8.3%). The norovirus GI concentrations were 9.8 × 10 and 3.2 × 10 genome copies/m. The norovirus GII concentrations ranged from 1.5 × 10 to 5.5 × 10 genome copies/m. RT-nested PCR detected norovirus GII RNA and the rare GII.21 norovirus strains were identified in the two aerosol samples. However, rotavirus RNA was not detected in any of the aerosol samples using either RT-qPCR or RT-nested PCR. This study highlights the quantification and genotyping of norovirus in aerosol samples generated from wastewater, suggesting a potential effect of airborne transmission for WWTPs workers.
诺如病毒和轮状病毒是全球人类急性肠胃炎的主要病因。由于这些肠道病毒体积小，存在于废水中的它们会形成气溶胶。本研究的目的是评估从泰国污水处理厂（WWTPs）采集的气溶胶样本中诺如病毒和轮状病毒的存在情况及浓度。一种用于浓缩病毒并进行分子检测的方法被用于确定自然存在的肠道病毒。在采集的24份气溶胶样本中，分别有8份（33.3%）和2份（8.3%）使用RT-qPCR和RT-巢式PCR检测出诺如病毒RNA呈阳性。基于RT-qPCR，与诺如病毒GI RNA（2/24，8.3%）相比，气溶胶样本中诺如病毒GII RNA的检测频率更高（7/24，29.2%）。诺如病毒GI的浓度分别为9.8×10和3.2×10基因组拷贝/立方米。诺如病毒GII的浓度范围为1.5×10至5.5×10基因组拷贝/立方米。RT-巢式PCR检测到诺如病毒GII RNA，并在两份气溶胶样本中鉴定出罕见的GII.21诺如病毒株。然而，使用RT-qPCR或RT-巢式PCR在任何气溶胶样本中均未检测到轮状病毒RNA。本研究强调了对废水中产生的气溶胶样本中诺如病毒的定量和基因分型，提示了空气传播对污水处理厂工作人员的潜在影响。
