Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan

22Citations
Citations of this article
46Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Introduction: Enteric viruses, including Hepatitis E virus (HEV), are able to persist under environmental conditions and may cause public health problems by contaminating natural and drinking water resources. Routine procedures for monitoring viruses in water samples have not been established for the water microbiology screening panel. Methodology: Eighty-six raw sewerage samples were collected from the different regions of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the twin cities of Pakistan. Samples were concentrated for HEV, using a polyethylene glycol-based method followed by viral RNA extraction using a commercial kit-based method. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with HEV specific primers was used for the detection of HEV. Results: The present investigation focused on 86 raw sewerage water samples taken from different locations of drainage outlets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. After careful experimentation, 35 samples were found to be RT-PCR positive. Nineteen (44.7%) out of 47 samples from Rawalpindi city were HEV positive while 16 (41.02%) out of 39 samples from Islamabad were HEV positive. All positive samples were found in the highly congested areas. Conclusions: The high detection rate of HEV in this study shows that HEV circulates at a relatively high frequency in the sewerage waters in Pakistan. This study is the first report on detection of HEV from sewerage waste water from Pakistan and suggests that HEV might be a potent indicator of viral pollution in environmental specimens. © 2010 Ahmad et al.

Author supplied keywords

References Powered by Scopus

A novel virus in swine is closely related to the human hepatitis E virus

1013Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Hepatitis E virus (HEV): Molecular cloning and sequencing of the full-length viral genome

936Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Hepatitis E virus

472Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Liver diseases in the Asia-Pacific region: a Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology Commission

387Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Occurrence of various viruses and recent evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater systems

52Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Replication of hepatitis E virus in three-dimensional cell culture

49Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Ahmad, T., Waheed, Y., Tahir, S., Safi, S. Z., Fatima, K., Afzal, M. S., … Qadri, I. (2010). Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan. Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 4(12), 842–845. https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.612

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 20

63%

Professor / Associate Prof. 5

16%

Researcher 5

16%

Lecturer / Post doc 2

6%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 11

42%

Medicine and Dentistry 5

19%

Environmental Science 5

19%

Immunology and Microbiology 5

19%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free