Microbiological hazard identification in river waters used for recreational activities.

Pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites can cause waterborne disease outbreaks. The study of coastal water quality contributes to identifying potential risks to human health and to improving water management practices. The Río de la Plata River, a wide estuary in South America, is used for recreational activities, as a water source for consumption and as a site for sewage discharges.

Assessment of Microbiological Quality of Fresh Vegetables and Oysters Produced in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

Fresh vegetables and shellfish are prone to microbial contamination through irrigation or breeding with sewage-polluted waters, as well as by infected food handlers. In this work, we studied the presence of human and bovine polyomaviruses and human norovirus in fresh lettuces, strawberries and oysters produced in Buenos Aires province, Argentina. In oysters, we also investigated F-specific RNA bacteriophages, indicator Escherichia coli (E.

Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in three districts of the Buenos Aires metropolitan region, Argentina, throughout nine months of surveillance: A pilot study.

In the current pandemic of COVID-19, sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 genome has been used to complement viral epidemiology in different countries. The aim of this work was to introduce and evaluate this wastewater-based tool in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a pilot study, surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from three districts of this area was performed for more than nine months from June 2020 to April 2021.

Diversity of β-lactamase-encoding genes in wastewater: bacteriophages as reporters.

A reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is present in pathogenic, commensal, and environmental bacteria as well as in mobile genetic elements, including bacteriophages. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered hotspots for the spread of ARGs. The aim of this work was to analyze the diversity of the highly prevalent ARGs bla and bla in bacterial and bacteriophage fractions associated with human and animal environments through the study of urban waste and animal residues discharged into WWTPs to provide information about the composition and maintenance of the current resistome in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Viral tools for detection of fecal contamination and microbial source tracking in wastewater from food industries and domestic sewage.

Alternative indicators may be more suitable than thermotolerant coliform bacteria to assess enteric virus pollution in environmental waters and their removal from wastewaters. In this study, F-specific RNA bacteriophages (F-RNAPh) showed to be potential viral indicators of fecal contamination when they were quantified from domestic and food-industrial effluents containing human, chicken, swine or bovine wastes. In addition, they showed to be resistant to the primary and secondary treatments of the wastewater treatment plants.

Phylodynamics of Merkel-cell polyomavirus and human polyomavirus 6: A long-term history with humans.

New human polyomaviruses have been described in the last years, including the Merkel-cell polyomavirus (MCPyV; Human polyomavirus 5) and the Human polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6). Although their infection is usually asymptomatic, in immunocompromised host can cause life-threatening pathologies, such as the Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive skin neoplasia associated to the MCPyV. Despite being prevalent viruses in population, epidemiological data from South America are scarce, as well as the characterization of the viral types circulating and their origin.

Comparison of internal process control viruses for detection of food and waterborne viruses.

Enteric viruses are pathogens associated with food- and waterborne outbreaks. The recovery of viruses from food or water samples is affected by the procedures applied to detect and concentrate them. The incorporation of an internal process control virus to the analyses allows monitoring the performance of the methodology.

High diversity of human polyomaviruses in environmental and clinical samples in Argentina: Detection of JC, BK, Merkel-cell, Malawi, and human 6 and 7 polyomaviruses.

New human polyomaviruses have been recently described. The aim of this work was to detect and characterize human polyomaviruses circulating in Argentina by recovering viruses from environmental and sewage samples and evaluating their potential role as viral indicators of human waste contamination. Analysis was performed in a wider context including viruses from clinical samples from an immunocompromised population.