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A Rapid Strategy for the Isolation of New Faustoviruses from Environmental Samples Using Vermamoeba vermiformis
Published on: June 4, 2016
Occurrence and distribution of Sapovirus in shellfish
Temitope C Ekundayo1, Frederick T Tabit1
1Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Cnr Christiaan de Wet and Pioneer Ave, Florida, Private Bag X6, 1710 Roodepoort, South Africa.
Abstract:
Shellfish harbour emerging enteric viruses including sapovirus that are often not the main target for routine shellfish safety screening. Thus, the present investigation aimed at assessing the occurrence of sapovirus in 2450 shellfish samples using standard procedures and random-intercept logistic-regression modelling. The overall prevalence of shellfish-borne sapovirus was 17.14% (95% CI: 8.95-30.34). Sapovirus prevalence in shellfish was significantly different (p ≤ 0.0005) by shellfish type, family, genus, species, RNA extraction, nation and continent. Cockles (Cardiidae) showed the highest pooled sapovirus prevalence (∼26%), followed by clams (∼13%) and oysters (∼11). Among species, Perna spp had high-pooled sapovirus rate (66.5%), while Crassostrea gigas had 14%. Also, Sapovirus prevalence in shellfish was highest in Spain (35.8%), Brazil (25.3%), Italy (18.2%) and Japan (17.2%). By continent, South America (25.3%) and Europe (14.3%), pooled sapovirus rates in shellfish exceeded Asia (10.31%) and Africa (11.6%). The study identified detection methods and RNA extraction kits (as significant moderators) affect the ability to detect and accurately determine sapovirus prevalence (p≈0.05) in shellfish. Among 9 factors tested, nation and detection assays moderated sapovirus prevalence in shellfish significantly. Notably, shellfish species, genus, nation, kit, continent, family, detection assay, shellfish type, viral quality control, year, and sample size explained 67.27%, 56.93%, 55.48%, 43.51%, 38.92%, 35.89%, 28.14%, 23.36%, 18.06%, 4.74%, and 1.81%, respectively of the true variance in sapovirus pooled prevalence in shellfish. In conclusion, this study reveals that sapovirus contamination of shellfish is common. The pooled sapovirus prevalence in shellfish, with especially high rates in certain bivalves and locales, highlights sapovirus as a shellfish safety concern on par with norovirus. The findings underscore the importance of including sapovirus in routine shellfish monitoring and shellfish-linked outbreak investigations, complementing norovirus surveillance.
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