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Cost-effective Method for Microbial Source Tracking Using Specific Human and Animal Viruses
Published on: December 3, 2011
Role of pepper mild mottle virus as a tracking tool for fecal pollution in aquatic environments
Vaishali Dhakar1, A Swapna Geetanjali2
1Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract:
The plant pathogen pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) has recently been proposed as a water quality indicator, it is a RNA virus belonging to the genus Tobamovirus in the family Virgoviridae that causes harm to the pepper crops. After consuming processed food products containing infected peppers, such as hot sauces, PMMoV is excreted in high concentrations in feces; therefore, this is the most common RNA virus, constantly found in the feces of humans. The fecal-oral pathway is emerging as an environmental problem. The presence of high concentrations of pathogens associated with human excreta in environmental waters or water reuse supplies poses a threat to public health. Due to the difficulty in determining the presence of pathogens effectively in water, attempts to monitor microbial water quality often use surrogates or indicator organisms that can be easily detected; therefore, PMMoV is used as a viral surrogate in aquatic environment. This paper describes the incidence and persistence of PMMoV in aquatic environments and in waste treatment plants and its usefulness for quantifying virus reductions by advanced water treatment technologies. In recent research, SARS-CoV-2 was reported to be found in wastewater and utilized for the purpose of monitoring coronavirus illness outbreaks. Since PMMoV is readily identified in the human feces and can also serve as an indicator of human waste, the determined PMMoV concentrations may be utilized to give the normalized report of the SARS-CoV-2 concentration, so that, the amount of human waste found in the wastewater can be taken into consideration.
Insights
Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), a common fecal virus, shows promise as a water quality indicator. Its presence helps assess human waste and pathogen levels in aquatic environments.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Microbiology
- Virology
- Water Quality Assessment
Background:
- Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) is a prevalent RNA virus found in human feces due to consumption of contaminated food products.
- The fecal-oral pathway highlights the risk of pathogens in environmental waters and water reuse systems, posing public health concerns.
- Accurate pathogen detection in water is challenging, necessitating the use of easily detectable viral surrogates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the incidence and persistence of PMMoV in aquatic environments and wastewater treatment plants.
- To assess PMMoV's utility in quantifying virus reductions achieved by advanced water treatment technologies.
- To explore PMMoV's potential as a normalization factor for SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in wastewater.
Main Methods:
- Investigated the occurrence and persistence of PMMoV in various aquatic matrices and wastewater treatment processes.
- Assessed the effectiveness of advanced water treatment technologies in reducing PMMoV concentrations.
- Correlated PMMoV levels with SARS-CoV-2 concentrations to account for human waste input.
Main Results:
- PMMoV is consistently detected in aquatic environments and wastewater treatment plants, indicating its suitability as a human waste indicator.
- Advanced water treatment technologies demonstrate varying degrees of efficacy in reducing PMMoV.
- PMMoV concentrations can be used to normalize SARS-CoV-2 data, providing a more accurate assessment of viral outbreaks relative to human waste load.
Conclusions:
- PMMoV serves as a reliable viral surrogate and indicator of human fecal contamination in aquatic environments.
- Monitoring PMMoV aids in evaluating the performance of water treatment processes and ensuring water safety.
- Utilizing PMMoV for normalization enhances the accuracy of wastewater-based epidemiology for viruses like SARS-CoV-2.
