Evaluation of two molecular detection platforms for gastroenteritis pathogens in treated sewage water in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

The ability to screen environmental water samples for gastroenteritis pathogens, particularly viruses remains challenging. Here, we investigated the presence of enteric viruses in treated sewage effluent water samples collected from a cooling tower in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (SA) from 2018 to 2019. Our ultimate aim was to determine the optimal handling and processing conditions for the water samples and the most sensitive detection method for the assessment of viral contamination.