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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02537-06
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Advanced environmental surveillance and molecular analyses indicate separate importations rather than endemic circulation of wild type 1 poliovirus in Gaza district in 2002

Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Services, Israel Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. Israel; Enterovirus Laboratory, Viral Diseases and Immunology, National Public Health Institute (KTL), Helsinki, Finland; Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: cvlsheba{at}netvision.net.il.

	Abstract

An improved sewage surveillance algorithm (sample acquisition - processing – molecular analysis) for wild and vaccine-derived polioviruses was developed and validated. It was based on plaque isolation with sensitive and high throughput methods. The molecular analysis included sequencing, a comparison of type, rate, and distribution of nucleotide substitutions with a Profile for Outbreaks Evolving from a Single Progenitor (POESP), and phylogenetic analysis for Relative Similarity (RS). The analyses revealed that two environmental wild type 1 isolates from Gaza district in 2002 were imported separately, most likely from Egyptian southern governorates, and were not linked by endemic circulation. These findings illustrate the continuous spreading potential of wild type poliovirus and underscore the value of extensive environmental surveillance employing advanced molecular analysis to monitor wild poliovirus in poliomyelitis free regions.