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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2002, p. 3455-3461, Vol. 68, No. 7
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.7.3455-3461.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bovine Enteroviruses as Indicators of Fecal Contamination

Victoria Ley,* James Higgins, and Ronald Fayer

Animal Waste Pathogen Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland 20705

Received 1 August 2001/ Accepted 25 April 2002

Surface waters frequently have been contaminated with human enteric viruses, and it is likely that animal enteric viruses have contaminated surface waters also. Bovine enteroviruses (BEV), found in cattle worldwide, usually cause asymptomatic infections and are excreted in the feces of infected animals in large numbers. In this study, the prevalence and genotype of BEV in a closed herd of cattle were evaluated and compared with BEV found in animals in the immediate environment and in environmental specimens. BEV was found in feces from 76% of cattle, 38% of white-tailed deer, and one of three Canada geese sharing the same pastures, as well as the water obtained from animal watering tanks, from the pasture, from streams running from the pasture to an adjacent river, and from the river, which emptied into the Chesapeake Bay. Furthermore, BEV was found in oysters collected from that river downstream from the farm. These findings suggest that BEV could be used as an indicator of fecal pollution originating from animals (cattle and/or deer). Partial sequence analysis of the viral genomes indicates that different viral variants coexist in the same area. The possibility of identifying the viral strains found in the animals and in the contaminated areas by sequencing the RNA genome, could provide a tool to find the origin of the contamination and should be useful for epidemiological and viral molecular evolution studies.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Departamento de Biotecnologia, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias, Ctra. Coruña Km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Phone: 3491 3471497. Fax: 3491 3572293. E-mail: ley{at}inia.es.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2002, p. 3455-3461, Vol. 68, No. 7
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.7.3455-3461.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.