Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan

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 t...

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Main Authors: Tahir Ahmad, Yasir Waheed, Sadia Tahir, Sher Zaman Safi, Kaneez Fatima, Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi, Ishtiaq Qadri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2010-10-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/612
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author Tahir Ahmad
Yasir Waheed
Sadia Tahir
Sher Zaman Safi
Kaneez Fatima
Muhammad Sohail Afzal
Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi
Ishtiaq Qadri
author_facet Tahir Ahmad
Yasir Waheed
Sadia Tahir
Sher Zaman Safi
Kaneez Fatima
Muhammad Sohail Afzal
Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi
Ishtiaq Qadri
author_sort Tahir Ahmad
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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institution Kabale University
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publisher The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
record_format Article
series Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
spelling doaj-art-5ae3daccf91e48ac9a7ae06e314c46af2025-08-20T03:48:58ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802010-10-0141210.3855/jidc.612Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in PakistanTahir Ahmad0Yasir Waheed1Sadia Tahir2Sher Zaman Safi3Kaneez Fatima4Muhammad Sohail Afzal5Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi6Ishtiaq Qadri7National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad PakistanNational University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad Pakistan 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. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/612HEVPCRdetection methodsewerage water
spellingShingle Tahir Ahmad
Yasir Waheed
Sadia Tahir
Sher Zaman Safi
Kaneez Fatima
Muhammad Sohail Afzal
Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi
Ishtiaq Qadri
Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
HEV
PCR
detection method
sewerage water
title Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan
title_full Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan
title_fullStr Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan
title_short Frequency of HEV contamination in sewerage waters in Pakistan
title_sort frequency of hev contamination in sewerage waters in pakistan
topic HEV
PCR
detection method
sewerage water
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/612
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AT sherzamansafi frequencyofhevcontaminationinseweragewatersinpakistan
AT kaneezfatima frequencyofhevcontaminationinseweragewatersinpakistan
AT muhammadsohailafzal frequencyofhevcontaminationinseweragewatersinpakistan
AT ziaurrehmanfarooqi frequencyofhevcontaminationinseweragewatersinpakistan
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