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Title: MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ANIMAL ENTEROVIRUSES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THEIR USE AS MARKERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FECAL CONTAMINATION

Author
item LEY, VICTORIA - INIA, MADRID, SPAIN
item JIMENEZ-CLAVERO, M. - INIA,MADRID, SPAIN
item Fayer, Ronald
item Higgins, James

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/28/2002
Publication Date: 7/25/2002
Citation: LEY, V., JIMENEZ-CLAVERO, M.A., FAYER, R., HIGGINS, J.A. MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ANIMAL ENTEROVIRUSES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THEIR USE AS MARKERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FECAL CONTAMINATION. MEETING ABSTRACT. 2002.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Enteroviruses are the most common viruses, infecting a wide variety of mammals. It is generally accepted that only a small number of entero viruses are known. Every year several new isolates are identified and named. Human enteroviruses have been found as environmental contaminants, and contamination of surface water with these viruses has been related to outbreaks of human infections. Similarly, animal enteroviruses shed in the feces of infected animals are likely environmental contaminants. To study this possibility with respect to agricultural animals and wildlife we have conducted surveys of farms and surrounding areas for the presence of bovine enterovirus (BEV) and porcine enteroviruses (PEV). We have collected feces from a herd of beef cattle on a farm near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, USA, and have examinated water collected in drinking water tanks, pastures, run-off streams, the adjacent Wye River, and in oysters collected from the Wye River. BEV was found in feces from 76% of cattle, in water obtained from all the locations examined, and in 40% of the oysters, as well as 38% of White-tail deer that co-mingled with the cattle. BEV was also detected in cattle feces and environmental samples collected in rural Spain. The aforementioned findings suggest that BEV is ubiquitous in cattle and in water associated with cattle farms. A survey for the presence of porcine enteroviruses (PEV) is underway in several areas in Spain. We believe that detection methods for BEV and PEV in environmental samples can be refined to identify these organisms as specific markers of bovine and porcine fecal contamination.