Detection of Enterovirus in Marine Recreational Waters of Southern California using Quantitative and Nested PCR techniques

Contamination of recreational waters with enteric viruses poses a risk to swimmer's health. To protect health, new methods are needed for virus detection. This project focused on the detection of enteric viruses in marine recreational waters of Southern California as part of coordinated epidemiology studies conducted at recreational beaches from 2008 to 2009. A new procedure was developed for the detection of enterovirus and norovirus using a rapid and high through-put polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Additionally a limited comparison of quantitative and nested PCR was conducted. This study found a significant difference in the detection of viruses among the three study beaches. Additionally, the nested PCR protocol detected a statistically greater occurrence of enteric viruses than quantitative PCR. The findings of this study suggest that rapid PCR-based methods may be developed and standardized for routine monitoring of enteric viruses from recreational beaches.