Use of integrated cell culture-PCR to evaluate the effectiveness of poliovirus inactivation by chlorine

Application of propidium monoazide quantitative PCR to discriminate of infectious African swine fever viruses

Introduction

The detection of African swine fever virus (ASFV) is commonly performed using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), a widely used virological method known for its high sensitivity and specificity. However, qPCR has a limitation in distinguishing between infectious and inactivated virus, which can lead to an overestimation of viral targets.

Methods

To provide insights into ASFV infectivity, we evaluated the suitability of PMAxx, an improved version of propidium monoazide (PMA), as a means to differentiate between infectious and non-infectious ASFV. Pre-treatment with 50 μM PMAxx for 15 min significantly reduced the qPCR signal of ASFV in the live vaccine. Additionally, thermal treatment at 85°C for 5 min effectively inactivated the live ASFV in the vaccine. Based on a standard curve, the sensitivity of the PMAxx-qPCR assay was estimated to be approximately 10 copies/μL. Furthermore, we observed a strong agreement between the results obtained from PMAxx-qPCR and pig challenge experiments. Moreover, we utilized the PMAxx-qPCR assay to investigate the persistence of ASFV, revealing a close relationship between viral persistence and factors such as temperature and type of piggery materials.

Conclusion

The findings of this study suggest that pre-treating viruses with PMAxx prior to qPCR is a reliable method for distinguishing between infectious and non-infectious ASFV. Thus, integrating of PMAxx-qPCR into routine diagnostic protocols holds potential for improving the interpretation of positive ASFV results obtained through qPCR.

Evaluation and comparison of three virucidal agents on inactivation of Nipah virus

Modern human activity is profoundly changing our relationship with microorganisms with the startling rise in the rate of emerging infectious diseases. Nipah virus together with Ebola virus and SARS-CoV-2 are prominent examples. Since COVID-19 and the West African Ebola virus disease outbreak, different chemical disinfectants have been developed for preventing the direct spread of viruses and their efficacy has also been evaluated. However, there are currently no published efficacy studies for the chemical disinfection of Nipah virus. In this study, the virucidal efficacy of three disinfectants (Micro-Chem Plus detergent disinfectant cleaner, FWD and Medical EtOH) against Nipah virus was evaluated in quantitative suspension tests including. Our results showed that the > 4 log reduction achieved for all products in inactivating Nipah virus in 15 s. Even, 19% ethanol was able to inactivate Nipah virus when applied for at least 8 min contact time. Comparative analysis displayed virucidal efficacy of each of the evaluated disinfectants against SARS-CoV-2, Ebola virus and Nipah virus, with only minor differences in working concentrations and contact times required for complete inactivation. We expect that our study can assist in decontamination in healthcare settings and high level biosafety laboratories and can be beneficial to control for emerging enveloped viruses.

An integrated cell culture reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (ICC-RTqPCR) method to simultaneously quantify the infectious concentrations of eight environmentally relevant enterovirus serotypes

Enterovirus (EV) infectivity is typically measured as a bulk parameter, yet EV serotypes vary in their susceptibility to natural and engineered stressors. Here we developed an integrated cell culture reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (ICC-RTqPCR) method to simultaneously and specifically quantify the infectious concentrations of eight EV serotypes commonly encountered in sewage (coxsackieviruses A9, B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5, and echoviruses 25 and 30). The method uses two cell lines for virus replication and serotype-specific qPCR primers for quantification. Primers were designed to target multiple environmental strains of a given serotype and displayed high specificity. The ICC-RTqPCR method exhibited a linear calibration range between 50 and 1000 (echoviruses) or 5000 (coxsackieviruses) infectious units per mL. Over this range, measurements were not influenced by the presence of non-target serotypes, and calibration slopes were reproducible for different virus batches and cell ages. The ICC-RTqPCR method was able to accurately quantify the infectious concentration of a virus after inactivation by heat, and the concentration of a virus within a wastewater matrix. This method will be valuable to assess the differing fates of EV serotypes in natural or engineered systems, and to portray the associated changes in EV population composition.

Airborne spread of infectious SARS-CoV-2: Moving forward using lessons from SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV

BACKGROUND

Although an increasing body of data reports the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air, this does not correlate to the presence of infectious viruses, thus not evaluating the risk for airborne COVID-19. Hence there is a marked knowledge gap that requires urgent attention. Therefore, in this systematic review, viability/stability of airborne SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV viruses is discussed.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was performed on PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science and Scopus to assess the stability and viability of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 on air samples.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The initial search identified 27 articles. Following screening of titles and abstracts and removing duplicates, 11 articles were considered relevant. Temperatures ranging from 20 °C to 25 °C and relative humidity ranging from 40% to 50% were reported to have a protective effect on viral viability for airborne SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. As no data is yet available on the conditions influencing viability for airborne SARS-CoV-2, and given the genetic similarity to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, one could extrapolate that the same conditions would apply. Nonetheless, the effect of these conditions seems to be residual considering the increasing number of cases in the south of USA, Brazil and India, where high temperatures and humidities have been observed.

CONCLUSION

Higher temperatures and high relative humidity can have a modest effect on SARS-CoV-2 viability in the environment, as reported in previous studies to this date. However, these studies are experimental, and do not support the fact that the virus has efficiently spread in the tropical regions of the globe, with other transmission routes such as the contact and droplet ones probably being responsible for the majority of cases reported in these regions, along with other factors such as human mobility patterns and contact rates. Further studies are needed to investigate the extent of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as this would have important implications for public health and infection-control policies.

Viral Interference as a Factor of False-Negative in the Infectious Adenovirus Detection Using Integrated Cell Culture-PCR with a BGM Cell Line

This study investigated the influence of viral interference on the detection of enteric viruses using the integrated cell culture (ICC)-PCR with a BGM cell line. It was possible to detect 10² plaque-forming units (PFU)/flask of enterovirus 71 (EV71) in spite of the presence of 10⁴ PFU/flask of adenovirus 40 (AdV40). Meanwhile, 10⁴ PFU/flask of AdV40 was not detected in the presence of 10² PFU/flask of EV71. This inhibition of AdV40 detection using ICC-PCR was attributable to the growth of EV71, because the addition of a growth inhibitor of EV71 (rupintrivir) neutralized the detection inhibition of AdV40. The growth inhibition of AdV40 under co-infection with EV71 is probably caused by the immune responses of EV71-infected cells. AdV is frequently used as a fecal contamination indicator of environmental water, but this study demonstrated that false-negative detection of infectious AdV using ICC-PCR could be caused by the co-existence of infectious EV in a water sample. The addition of rupintrivir could prevent false-negative detection of AdV using ICC-PCR. This study, therefore, emphasizes the importance of confirming the presence of multiple enteric viruses in a sample derived from environmental water prior to the application of ICC-PCR because the viral interference phenomenon may lead to the false-negative detection of target viruses.

Optimizing a Suspension Culture Method with a Decreased Cost to Detect Enteroviruses in Water to Increase Surveillance Access

Enteroviruses are a public health threat due to the high incidence of infections and potential for serious illness or death. Some laboratories in high-income countries detect enteroviruses in water by integrating cell culture and PCR (ICC/PCR). This combined method carries a high financial burden, due in part to specialized cell culture equipment. Therefore, we expanded upon a pilot study to reduce the cost by using common laboratory polypropylene tubes to create a cell culture in suspension. We optimized the protocol by determining minimal incubation periods post-infection as a function of the initial virus concentration. Cells in suspension and traditional monolayers were inoculated with poliovirus and incubated in 8-hour intervals up to 48 hours prior to extraction. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to detect viral nucleic acid targets. Treated and raw water samples were seeded with virus and the suspension ICC/qPCR protocol used to ascertain whether the protocol performed similar to directly seeding cells. No variation in virus detection occurred using the suspension ICC/qPCR or monolayer ICC/qPCR (p = 0.95). In surface water samples, viral nucleic acid was successfully detected, with no significant increase after 32 h (p > 0.05). Suspension ICC/qPCR is as effective as monolayer ICC/qPCR in detecting enteroviruses in surface waters. Materials used in the suspension ICC/qPCR have a lower monetary cost than traditional cell culture materials without loss of sensitivity. More accessible testing of waters for enterovirus contamination through cost reduction has the potential to reduce human exposure and disease.

Progress in the study of virus detection methods: The possibility of alternative methods to validate virus inactivation

Virus inactivation validation studies have been widely applied in the risk assessment of biogenic material-based medical products, such as biological products, animal tissue-derived biomaterials, and allogeneic biomaterials, to decrease the risk of virus transmission. Traditional virus detection methods in an inactivation validation study utilize cell culture as a tool to quantify the infectious virus by observing cytopathic effects (CPEs) after virus inactivation. However, this is susceptible to subjective factors because CPEs must be observed by experts under a microscope during virus titration. In addition, this method is costly and time- and labor-consuming. Molecular biological technologies such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) have been widely used for virus detection but cannot distinguish infectious and noninfectious viruses. Therefore, qPCR cannot be directly applied to virus inactivation validation studies. In this paper, methods to detect viruses and progress in the challenge of differentiating infectious and noninfectious viruses with the combination of pretreatment and qPCR techniques such as the integrated cell culture-qPCR (ICC-qPCR) method are reviewed. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of each new method, as well as its prospect in virus inactivation validation studies, are discussed.

Critical issues in application of molecular methods to environmental virology

Waterborne diseases have significant public health and socioeconomic implications worldwide. Many viral pathogens are commonly associated with water-related diseases, namely enteric viruses. Also, novel recently discovered human-associated viruses have been shown to be a causative agent of gastroenteritis or other clinical symptoms. A wide range of analytical methods is available for virus detection in environmental water samples. Viral isolation is historically carried out via propagation on permissive cell lines; however, some enteric viruses are difficult or not able to propagate on existing cell lines. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) screening of viral nucleic acid is routinely used to investigate virus contamination in water due to the high sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, the introduction of metagenomic approaches into environmental virology has facilitated the discovery of viruses that cannot be grown in cell culture. This review (i) highlights the applications of molecular techniques in environmental virology such as PCR and its modifications to overcome the critical issues associated with the inability to discriminate between infectious viruses and nonviable viruses, (ii) outlines the strengths and weaknesses of Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification (NASBA) and microarray, (iii) discusses the role of digital PCR as an emerging water quality monitoring assay and its advantages over qPCR, (iv) addresses the viral metagenomics in terms of detecting emerging viral pathogens and diversity in aquatic environment. Indeed, there are many challenges for selecting methods to detect classic and emerging viruses in environmental samples. While the existing techniques have revealed the importance and diversity of viruses in the water environment, further developments are necessary to enable more rapid and accurate methodologies for viral water quality monitoring and regulation.

How much reduction of virus is needed for recycled water: A continuous changing need for assessment?

To ensure the safety of wastewater reuse for irrigation of food crops and drinking water pathogenic viruses must be reduced to levels that pose no significant risk. To achieve this goal minimum reduction of viruses by treatment trains have been suggested. For use of edible crops a 6-log reduction and for production of potable drinking water a 12-log reduction has been suggested. These reductions were based on assuming infective virus concentrations of 10⁵ to 10⁶ per liter. Recent application of molecular methods suggests that some pathogenic viruses may be occurring in concentrations of 10⁷ to 10⁹ per liter. Factors influencing these levels include the development of molecular methods for virus detection, emergence of newly recognized viruses, decrease in per capita water use due to conservation measures, and outbreaks. Since neither cell culture nor molecular methods can assess all the potentially infectious virus in wastewater conservative estimates should be used to assess the virus load in untreated wastewater. This review indicates that an additional 2- to 3-log reduction of viruses above current recommendations may be needed to ensure the safety of recycled water. Information is needed on peak loading of viruses. In addition, more virus groups need to be quantified using better methods of virus quantification, including more accurate methods for measuring viral infectivity in order to better quantify risks from viruses in recycled water.

Quantitation of viable Coxiella burnetii in milk using an integrated cell culture-polymerase chain reaction (ICC-PCR) assay

The obligate intracellular pathogen Coxiella burnetii has long been considered the most heat resistant pathogen in raw milk, making it the reference pathogen for determining pasteurisation conditions for milk products. New milk formulations and novel non-thermal processes require validation of effectiveness which requires a more practical method for analysis than using the currently used animal model for assessing Coxiella survival. Also, there is an interest in better characterising thermal inactivation of Coxiella in various milk formulations. To avoid the use of the guinea pig model for evaluating Coxiella survival, an Integrated Cell Culture-PCR (ICC-PCR) method was developed for determining Coxiella viability in milk. Vero cell cultures were directly infected from Coxiella-contaminated milk in duplicate 24-well plates. Viability of the Coxiella in milk was shown by a ≥0·5 log genome equivalent (ge)/ml increase in the quantity of IS111a gene from the baseline post-infection (day 0) level after 9–11 d propagation. Coxiella in skim, 2%, and whole milk, and half and half successfully infected Vero cells and increased in number by at least 2 logs using a 48-h infection period followed by 9-d propagation time. As few as 125 Coxiella ge/ml in whole milk was shown to infect and propagate at least 2 logs in the optimised ICC-PCR assay, though variable confirmation of propagation was shown for as low as 25 Coxiella ge/ml. Applicability of the ICC-PCR method was further proven in an MPN format to quantitate the number of viable Coxiella remaining in whole milk after 60 °C thermal treatment at 0, 20, 40, 60 and 90 min.

Solar and temperature treatments affect the ability of human rotavirus wa to bind to host cells and synthesize viral RNA

Rotavirus, the leading cause of diarrheal diseases in children under the age of five, is often resistant to conventional wastewater treatment and thus can remain infectious once released into the aquatic environment. Solar and heat treatments can inactivate rotavirus, but it is unknown how these treatments inactivate the virus on a molecular level. To answer this question, our approach was to correlate rotavirus inactivation with the inhibition of portions of the virus life cycle as a means to identify the mechanisms of solar or heat inactivation. Specifically, the integrity of the rotavirus NSP3 gene, virus-host cell interaction, and viral RNA synthesis were examined after heat (57°C) or solar treatment of rotavirus. Only the inhibition of viral RNA synthesis positively correlated with a loss of rotavirus infectivity; 57°C treatment of rotavirus resulted in a decrease of rotavirus RNA synthesis at the same rate as rotavirus infectivity. These data suggest that heat treatment neutralized rotaviruses primarily by targeting viral transcription functions. In contrast, when using solar disinfection, the decrease in RNA synthesis was responsible for approximately one-half of the decrease in infectivity, suggesting that other mechanisms, including posttranslational, contribute to inactivation. Nevertheless, both solar and heat inactivation of rotaviruses disrupted viral RNA synthesis as a mechanism for inactivation.

Waterborne pathogens: detection methods and challenges

Waterborne pathogens and related diseases are a major public health concern worldwide, not only by the morbidity and mortality that they cause, but by the high cost that represents their prevention and treatment. These diseases are directly related to environmental deterioration and pollution. Despite the continued efforts to maintain water safety, waterborne outbreaks are still reported globally. Proper assessment of pathogens on water and water quality monitoring are key factors for decision-making regarding water distribution systems’ infrastructure, the choice of best water treatment and prevention waterborne outbreaks. Powerful, sensitive and reproducible diagnostic tools are developed to monitor pathogen contamination in water and be able to detect not only cultivable pathogens but also to detect the occurrence of viable but non-culturable microorganisms as well as the presence of pathogens on biofilms. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is a helpful tool to evaluate the scenarios for pathogen contamination that involve surveillance, detection methods, analysis and decision-making. This review aims to present a research outlook on waterborne outbreaks that have occurred in recent years. This review also focuses in the main molecular techniques for detection of waterborne pathogens and the use of QMRA approach to protect public health.

Short RNA indicator sequences are not completely degraded by autoclaving

Short indicator RNA sequences (<100 bp) persist after autoclaving and are recovered intact by molecular amplification. Primers targeting longer sequences are most likely to produce false positives due to amplification errors easily verified by melting curves analyses. If short indicator RNA sequences are used for virus identification and quantification then post autoclave RNA degradation methodology should be employed, which may include further autoclaving.

Virus hazards from food, water and other contaminated environments

Numerous viruses of human or animal origin can spread in the environment and infect people via water and food, mostly through ingestion and occasionally through skin contact. These viruses are released into the environment by various routes including water run-offs and aerosols. Furthermore, zoonotic viruses may infect humans exposed to contaminated surface waters. Foodstuffs of animal origin can be contaminated, and their consumption may cause human infection if the viruses are not inactivated during food processing. Molecular epidemiology and surveillance of environmental samples are necessary to elucidate the public health hazards associated with exposure to environmental viruses. Whereas monitoring of viral nucleic acids by PCR methods is relatively straightforward and well documented, detection of infectious virus particles is technically more demanding and not always possible (e.g. human norovirus or hepatitis E virus). The human pathogenic viruses that are most relevant in this context are nonenveloped and belong to the families of the Caliciviridae, Adenoviridae, Hepeviridae, Picornaviridae and Reoviridae. Sampling methods and strategies, first-choice detection methods and evaluation criteria are reviewed.

Simultaneous detection of infectious human echoviruses and adenoviruses by an in situ nuclease-resistant molecular beacon-based assay

A multiplex methodology using two nuclease-resistant molecular beacons that target specific genomic regions of adenovirus 2 and echovirus 17 during simultaneous infection in A549 cells is presented. Using fluorescence microscopy, visualization of enteroviral and adenoviral replication was possible within 3 h postinfection.

Virus hazards from food, water and other contaminated environments

Numerous viruses of human or animal origin can spread in the environment and infect people via water and food, mostly through ingestion and occasionally through skin contact. These viruses are released into the environment by various routes including water run‐offs and aerosols. Furthermore, zoonotic viruses may infect humans exposed to contaminated surface waters. Foodstuffs of animal origin can be contaminated, and their consumption may cause human infection if the viruses are not inactivated during food processing. Molecular epidemiology and surveillance of environmental samples are necessary to elucidate the public health hazards associated with exposure to environmental viruses. Whereas monitoring of viral nucleic acids by PCR methods is relatively straightforward and well documented, detection of infectious virus particles is technically more demanding and not always possible (e.g. human norovirus or hepatitis E virus). The human pathogenic viruses that are most relevant in this context are nonenveloped and belong to the families of the Caliciviridae, Adenoviridae, Hepeviridae, Picornaviridae and Reoviridae. Sampling methods and strategies, first‐choice detection methods and evaluation criteria are reviewed.

Virus hazards from food, water and the environment, their reservoirs and routes of transmission; Sampling methods and sampling strategies thereof, including the first choice test methods, and criteria for data evaluation are described.

Methods to detect infectious human enteric viruses in environmental water samples

Currently, a wide range of analytical methods is available for virus detection in environmental water samples. Molecular methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) have the highest sensitivity and specificity to investigate virus contamination in water, so they are the most commonly used in environmental virology. Despite great sensitivity of PCR, the main limitation is the lack of the correlation between the detected viral genome and viral infectivity, which limits conclusions regarding the significance for public health. To provide information about the infectivity of the detected viruses, cultivation on animal cell culture is the gold standard. However, cell culture infectivity assays are laborious, time consuming and costly. Also, not all viruses are able to produce cytopathic effect and viruses such as human noroviruses have no available cell line for propagation. In this brief review, we present a summary and critical evaluation of different approaches that have been recently proposed to overcome limitations of the traditional cell culture assay and PCR assay such as integrated cell culture-PCR, detection of genome integrity, detection of capsid integrity, and measurement of oxidative damages on viral capsid protein. Techniques for rapid detection of infectious viruses such as fluorescence microscopy and automated flow cytometry have also been suggested to assess virus infectivity in water samples.

Evaluation of the infectivity, gene and antigenicity persistence of rotaviruses by free chlorine disinfection

The effects of free chlorine disinfection of tap water and wastewater effluents on the infectivity, gene integrity and surface antigens of rotaviruses were evaluated by a bench-scale chlorine disinfection experiments. Plaque assays, integrated cell culture-quantitative RT-PCR (ICC-RT-qPCR), RT-qPCR, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), respectively, were used to assess the influence of the disinfectant on virus infectivity as well as genetic and antigenic integrity of simian rotavirus SA11 as a surrogate for human rotaviruses. The ICC-RT-qPCR was able to detect rotaviruses survival from chlorine disinfection at chlorine dose up to 20 mg/L (60 min contact), which suggested a required chlorine dose of 5 folds (from 1 to 5 mg/L) higher than that indicated by the plaque assay to achieve 1.8 log10 reductions in tap water with 60 min exposing. The VP7 gene was more resistant than the infectivity and existed at chlorine dose up to 20 mg/L (60 min contact), while the antigencity was undetectable with chlorine dose more than 5 mg/L (60 min contact). The water quality also impacted the inactivation efficiencies, and rotaviruses have a relatively higher resistant in secondary effluents than in the tap water under the same chlorine disinfection treatments. This study indicated that rotaviruses have a higher infectivity, gene and antigencity resistance to chlorine than that previously indicated by plaque assay only, which seemed to underestimate the resistance of rotaviruses to chlorine and the risk of rotaviruses in environments. Present results also suggested that re-evaluation of resistance of other waterborne viruses after disinfections by more sensitive infectivity detection method (such as ICC-RT-qPCR) may be necessary, to determine the adequate disinfectant doses required for the inactivation of waterborne viruses.

Detection of oxidative damages on viral capsid protein for evaluating structural integrity and infectivity of human norovirus

The infectivity evaluation of noncultivatable viruses, such as human norovirus, is crucial to address needs for ensuring the safety in usage of water and marine products. In this work, we tested a new approach to evaluate viral particle integrity, in which oxidatively produced carbonyl groups on viral capsid protein were quantitatively detected. As a result, the decrease in the infectivity of human astrovirus, a representative enteric virus, positively correlated with the amount of oxidative damage on viral particles. Furthermore, when human norovirus was treated by 1 ppm free chlorine for 15 min, 49.93% of virions were recovered as oxidatively damaged particles, which represents a 5-fold increase over those treated by 0.5 ppm free chlorine for 15 min. The detection of the carbonylated viral particles could be a powerful tool for the evaluation of the decrease in the infectivity of noncultivatable viruses.

Integrated capture and spectroscopic detection of viruses

The goal of this work is to develop an online monitoring scheme for detection of viruses in flowing drinking water. The approach applies an electrodeposition process that is similar to the use of charged membrane filters previously employed for collection of viruses from aqueous samples. In the present approach, charged materials are driven onto a robust optical sensing element which has high transparency to infrared light. A spectroscopic measurement is performed using the evanescent wave that penetrates no more than 1 mum from the surface of an infrared optical element in an attenuated total reflectance measurement scheme. The infrared measurement provides quantitative information on the amount and identity of material deposited from the water. Initial studies of this sensing scheme used proteins reversibly electrodeposited onto germanium chips. The results of those studies were applied to design a method for collection of viruses onto an attenuated total reflectance crystal. Spectral signatures can be discriminated between three types of protein and two viruses. There is the potential to remove deposited material by reversing the voltage polarity. This work demonstrates a novel and practical scheme for detection of viruses in water systems with potential application to near-continual, automated monitoring of municipal drinking water.

Evaluation of liquid- and fog-based application of Sterilox hypochlorous acid solution for surface inactivation of human norovirus

Noroviruses (NVs) are the most frequent cause of outbreaks of gastroenteritis in common settings, with surface-mediated transfer via contact with fecally contaminated surfaces implicated in exposure. NVs are environmentally stable and persistent and have a low infectious dose. Several disinfectants have been evaluated for efficacy to control viruses on surfaces, but the toxicity and potential damage to treated materials limits their applicability. Sterilox hypochlorous acid (HOCl) solution (HAS) has shown broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity while being suitable for general use. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of HAS to reduce NV both in aqueous suspensions and on inanimate carriers. HOCl was further tested as a fog to decontaminate large spaces. HOCl effectiveness was evaluated using nonculturable human NV measured by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and two surrogate viruses, coliphage MS2 and murine NV, that were detected by both infectivity and RT-PCR. Exposing virus-contaminated carriers of ceramic tile (porous) and stainless steel (nonporous) to 20 to 200 ppm of HOCl solution resulted in > or = 99.9% (> or = 3 log10) reductions of both infectivity and RNA titers of tested viruses within 10 min of exposure time. HOCl fogged in a confined space reduced the infectivity and RNA titers of NV, murine NV, and MS2 on these carriers by at least 99.9% (3 log10), regardless of carrier location and orientation. We conclude that HOCl solution as a liquid or fog is likely to be effective in disinfecting common settings to reduce NV exposures and thereby control virus spread via fomites.

Development of an integrated cell culture—Real-time RT-PCR assay for detection of reovirus in biosolids

The current method for viral detection in biosolids is a plaque assay, as specified by the EPA in the 40 CFR Part 503 rule. Development of an integrated cell culture-polymerase chain reaction (ICC-PCR) assay has allowed detection of viruses that are under-detected and undetected by the plaque assay. This study examined the efficiency of the ICC-PCR method to detect mammalian orthoreovirus, a virus typically under-detected in biosolids. Biosolid samples seeded with mammalian orthoreovirus type 1 (Lang) detected to 3 x 10(5) plaque forming units (pfu) with a plaque assay, 10(2)pfu equivalents with real-time RT-PCR and no incubation, and 10(8)pfu equivalents with real-time RT-PCR after 7 days incubation. More infectious virus was detected using ICC-real-time RT-PCR than a plaque assay. Twenty-four environmental samples from three locations around the United States did not plaque with the EPA method; however the ICC-PCR detected infectious reovirus in 13 of the samples. Raw biosolids samples accounted for 12 of the positive samples, and 1 positive was from an aerobically digested sample.

Role of cell culture for virus detection in the age of technology

Viral disease diagnosis has traditionally relied on the isolation of viral pathogens in cell cultures. Although this approach is often slow and requires considerable technical expertise, it has been regarded for decades as the "gold standard" for the laboratory diagnosis of viral disease. With the development of nonculture methods for the rapid detection of viral antigens and/or nucleic acids, the usefulness of viral culture has been questioned. This review describes advances in cell culture-based viral diagnostic products and techniques, including the use of newer cell culture formats, cryopreserved cell cultures, centrifugation-enhanced inoculation, precytopathogenic effect detection, cocultivated cell cultures, and transgenic cell lines. All of these contribute to more efficient and less technically demanding viral detection in cell culture. Although most laboratories combine various culture and nonculture approaches to optimize viral disease diagnosis, virus isolation in cell culture remains a useful approach, especially when a viable isolate is needed, if viable and nonviable virus must be differentiated, when infection is not characteristic of any single virus (i.e., when testing for only one virus is not sufficient), and when available culture-based methods can provide a result in a more timely fashion than molecular methods.

UV inactivation of adenovirus type 41 measured by cell culture mRNA RT-PCR

Adenoviruses are among the most resistant waterborne pathogens to UV disinfection, yet of the 51 serologically distinct human adenoviruses, only a few have been evaluated for their sensitivities to UV irradiation. Human enteric adenoviruses (Ad40 and Ad41) are difficult to cultivate and reliably assay for infectivity, requiring weeks to obtain cytopathogenic effects (CPE). Inoculated cell cultures often deteriorate before the appearance of distinctive CPE making it difficult to obtain reliable and reproducible data regarding UV inactivation. Adenovirus is a double-stranded DNA virus and produces messenger RNA (mRNA) during replication in host cells. The presence of viral mRNA in host cells is definitive evidence of infection. We recently developed a rapid and reliable cell culture-mRNA RT-PCR assay to detect and quantify adenovirus infectivity. Viral mRNA recovered from cell cultures 5-7 days after infection was purified on oligo-dT latex, treated with DNase, and amplified by RT-PCR using the primers specific for a conserved region of the hexon late mRNA transcript. Treatment of approximately 10(4) Ad41 with different doses of 254 nm germicidal UV radiation resulted in a dose-dependent loss of infectivity. As UV doses were increased from 75 to 200 mJ/cm2, virus survival decreased and no virus infectivity (measured by detectable mRNA) was found at a dose of 225 mJ/cm2 or higher. Our results using the cell culture mRNA RT-PCR assay indicate that Ad41 is more resistant to UV radiation than in a previous study using a conventional cell culture infectivity assay. Results were more similar to those found for Ad 40 using CPE as a measure of infectivity in another previous study.

Accumulation and fate of microorganisms and microspheres in biofilms formed in a pilot-scale water distribution system

The accumulation and fate of model microbial "pathogens" within a drinking-water distribution system was investigated in naturally grown biofilms formed in a novel pilot-scale water distribution system provided with chlorinated and UV-treated water. Biofilms were exposed to 1-mum hydrophilic and hydrophobic microspheres, Salmonella bacteriophages 28B, and Legionella pneumophila bacteria, and their fate was monitored over a 38-day period. The accumulation of model pathogens was generally independent of the biofilm cell density and was shown to be dependent on particle surface properties, where hydrophilic spheres accumulated to a larger extent than hydrophobic ones. A higher accumulation of culturable legionellae was measured in the chlorinated system compared to the UV-treated system with increasing residence time. The fate of spheres and fluorescence in situ hybridization-positive legionellae was similar and independent of the primary disinfectant applied and water residence time. The more rapid loss of culturable legionellae compared to the fluorescence in situ hybridization-positive legionellae was attributed to a loss in culturability rather than physical desorption. Loss of bacteriophage 28B plaque-forming ability together with erosion may have affected their fate within biofilms in the pilot-scale distribution system. The current study has demonstrated that desorption was one of the primary mechanisms affecting the loss of microspheres, legionellae, and bacteriophage from biofilms within a pilot-scale distribution system as well as disinfection and biological grazing. In general, two primary disinfection regimens (chlorination and UV treatment) were not shown to have a measurable impact on the accumulation and fate of model microbial pathogens within a water distribution system.

Comparison of total culturable virus assay and multiplex integrated cell culture-PCR for reliability of waterborne virus detection

The total culturable virus assay (TCVA) and an integrated cell culture-PCR (ICC-PCR) were compared in parallel to evaluate their detection reliability. Source, finished, and tap water samples from three drinking water treatment plant systems were analyzed by TCVA, and every cell culture dish was subsequently examined by reverse transcription (RT) multiplex PCR using enterovirus- and adenovirus-specific primers. Twenty-seven of 180 (15%) inoculated dishes exhibited cytopathic effects (CPE). Virus concentrations for source water ranged from 3.3 to 21.0 most probable numbers of infectious units (MPN) per 100 liters. No finished or tap water samples were positive. On the other hand, 38 (21%) of the dishes were positive in multiplex ICC-PCR. Virus concentrations ranged from 4.5 to 10.2 MPN/100 liters for source water and 0 to 0.9 MPN/100 liters for finished and tap water. In spite of its superior sensitivity, the ICC-PCR assay resulted in lower virus concentration values than the TCVA for two of the source water sites. Retest of the CPE-positive dishes using reovirus-specific RT-PCR revealed that 24 of the 27 (89%) dishes were also positive for reoviruses. These observations suggested that the detection reliability of ICC-PCR is restricted by the primer sets that are integrated in the reaction mixture. The observation of an uneven distribution of PCR-positive culture dishes in a given sample raises an additional caution that simple extrapolation of the ICC-PCR result from the analysis of a limited fraction of collected samples should be avoided to minimize possible over- and underestimation of the amount of virus.

Detection of infectious adenovirus in cell culture by mRNA reverse transcription-PCR

We have developed and evaluated the reverse transcription (RT)-PCR detection of mRNA in cell culture to assay infectious adenoviruses (Ads) by using Ad type 2 (Ad2) and Ad41 as models. Only infectious Ads are detected because they are the only ones able to produce mRNA during replication in cell culture. Three primer sets for RT-PCR amplification of mRNA were evaluated for their sensitivity and specificity: a conserved region of late mRNA transcript encoding a virion structural hexon protein and detecting a wide range of human Ads and two primer sets targeting a region of an early mRNA transcript that specifically detects either Ad2 and Ad5 or Ad40 and Ad41. The mRNAs of infected A549 and Graham 293 cells were recovered from cell lysates with oligo(dT) at different time periods after infection and treated with RNase-free DNase to remove residual contaminating DNA, and then Ad mRNA was detected by RT-PCR assay. The mRNA of Ad2 was detected as early as 6 h after infection at 10(6) infectious units (IU) per cell culture and after longer incubation times at levels as low as 1 to 2 IU per cell culture. The mRNA of Ad41 was detected as soon as 24 h after infection at 10(6) IU per cell culture and at levels as low as 5 IU per cell culture after longer incubation times. To confirm the detection of only infectious viruses, it was shown that no mRNA was detected from Ad2 and Ad41 inactivated by free chlorine or high doses of collimated, monochromatic (254-nm) UV radiation. Detection of Ad2 mRNA exactly coincided with the presence of virus infectivity detected by cytopathogenic effects in cell cultures, but mRNA detection occurred sooner. These results suggest that mRNA detection by RT-PCR assay in inoculated cell cultures is a very sensitive, specific, and rapid method by which to detect infectious Ads in water and other environmental samples.

Molecular techniques should not now replace cell culture in diagnostic virology laboratories

The value of molecular techniques for virology is not in dispute; the issue debated here is whether or not to abandon virus isolation altogether. Modern clinical virology relies on rapid virus detection for timely infection control and antiviral therapy. The role of virus isolation, inevitably a slower process as it involves replication in cell cultures, is most significant in providing epidemiological data, in the diagnosis of new or unexpected infection, and in yielding infectious virus for further study. Examples include identification of enterovirus serotypes in outbreaks, diagnosis of atypical virus infections, and provision of virus isolates for phenotypic antiviral susceptibility assays. Many viruses can be detected after overnight culture using the centrifugation-enhanced (shell vial) technique. In contrast to this established track record, the commercial development of molecular assays has been concentrated on blood-borne viruses, and standardisation of procedures for other viruses is lacking. Accreditation of molecular techniques is just beginning, and few external quality assurance schemes are available yet. In my view, it is premature to abandon routine virus isolation, although as molecular diagnosis expands, the facilities for cell culture and isolation work may become more centralised to retain expertise and to provide the range and quality of service required.