Prevalence of Enterovirus in Water Consumed in Rural Areas in a State in the Midwest Region of Brazil

Individuals in rural communities often obtain water from surface and groundwater sources, where the microbial quality is often unknown. Enteric viruses are among the main pathogenic microorganisms responsible for waterborne disease outbreaks. Thus, the objective of this work was to search for enterovirus in water samples from 25 rural communities. For this, 160 water samples were collected. Detection and quantification of the enterovirus (EV) were performed through molecular tests using the two main amplification reagents for qPCR. The prevalence of EV was identified in 4.4% (7/160) of the samples when Sybr Green® was used, all in groundwater sources. Additionally, EV was found in 9.7% of shallow tubular wells, 3.8% of deep tubular wells, 4.3% of shallow dug wells and 5.9% of spring water. When using TaqMan®, there was no amplification of the EV cDNA. Conclusions: Sybr Green®, being a more accessible reagent, has a greater predilection for molecular tests, but the study showed that Taqman® could suffer less interference from environmental samples, resulting in more reliable values of viral quantification. In this context, the detection of EV in groundwater can help in monitoring the virus in this source, in addition to helping managers of these communities in decision making.