%0 Journal Article
%T Capsid Integrity Detection of Enteric Viruses in Reclaimed Waters.
%A Puchades-Colera P
%A Díaz-Reolid A
%A Girón-Guzmán I
%A Cuevas-Ferrando E
%A Pérez-Cataluña A
%A Sánchez G
%J Viruses
%V 16
%N 6
%D 2024 May 21
%M 38932109
%F 5.818
%R 10.3390/v16060816
%X Climate change, unpredictable weather patterns, and droughts are depleting water resources in some parts of the globe, where recycling and reusing wastewater is a strategy for different purposes. To counteract this, the EU regulation for water reuse sets minimum requirements for the use of reclaimed water for agricultural irrigation, including a reduction in human enteric viruses. In the present study, the occurrence of several human enteric viruses, including the human norovirus genogroup I (HuNoV GI), HuNoV GII, and rotavirus (RV), along with viral fecal contamination indicator crAssphage was monitored by using (RT)-qPCR methods on influent wastewater and reclaimed water samples. Moreover, the level of somatic coliphages was also determined as a culturable viral indicator. To assess the potential viral infectivity, an optimization of a capsid integrity PMAxx-RT-qPCR method was performed on sewage samples. Somatic coliphages were present in 60% of the reclaimed water samples, indicating inefficient virus inactivation. Following PMAxx-RT-qPCR optimization, 66% of the samples tested positive for at least one of the analyzed enteric viruses, with concentrations ranging from 2.79 to 7.30 Log10 genome copies (gc)/L. Overall, most of the analyzed reclaimed water samples did not comply with current EU legislation and contained potential infectious viral particles.