Detection of Enteroviruses and SARS-CoV-2 in Tunisian Wastewater.

Monitoring the circulation of enteric viruses in environmental wastewater is a valuable tool for preventing the emergence of waterborne and food-borne diseases in humans. The detection of viruses was performed in five Tunisian wastewater treatment plants, three located in the Grand Tunis City (WWTP 1, WWTP 2, WWTP 3) and two in the Sahel of Tunisia (WWTP 4, WWTP 4), known as very developed and crowded zones, to assess the effectiveness of three biological wastewater treatment procedures namely natural oxidizing lagoons, rotating biodisks procedure, activated sludge procedure, and one tertiary sewage treatment using UV-C reactor for this enteric viruses' removal. Thus, 242 sewage samples were collected between June 2019 and May 2020 from different lines of wastewater treatment procedures implemented in the five wastewater treatment plants investigated.

Activated sludge and UV-C for Sapovirus, Aichivirus, Astrovirus, and Adenovirus processing.

In this study, the detection rates of four enteric viruses, Human Astrovirus (HAstVs), Aichivirus (AiVs), Human Adenovirus (HAdVs), and Sapovirus (SaVs) are carried out to assess the virological quality of the treated wastewater. A total of 140 samples was collected from wastewater treatment plant WWTP of Tunis-City. Real-time RT-PCR and conventional RT-PCR results showed high frequencies of detection of the four enteric viruses investigated at the entry and exit of the biological activated sludge procedure and a significant reduction in viral titers after tertiary treatment with UV-C254 irradiation.

Inactivation of Hepatovirus A in wastewater by 254 nm ultraviolet-C irradiation.

Hepatovirus A is known as a waterborne and foodborne virus that can be transmitted from one person to another through contaminated water and raw food. Therefore, it is necessary to survey the circulation of this type of enteric virus in the wastewater to prevent prospective outbreaks. Wastewater samples collected from WWTP El Menzeh I and Charguia I have been the subject for physicochemical, bacteriological (MPN) and virological analyses.

The Effectiveness of Activated Sludge Procedure and UV-C in Norovirus Inactivation in a Tunisian Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The molecular detection of Norovirus GI and Norovirus GII in the Tunisian industrial wastewater treatment plant of Charguia I was conducted to test the effectiveness of secondary biological treatment using the activated sludge procedure and the UV-C tertiary treatment radiation using a UV disinfection prototype to upgrade the quality of the purified wastewater. A total of 140 sewage samples were collected from the two lines of sewage treatment procedures. Norovirus GI and Norovirus GII have been found and quantified using Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) in 66.

The performance of biological and tertiary wastewater treatment procedures for rotaviruses A removal.

Enteric viruses, generally found in sewage, are recognized as the main cause of waterborne and foodborne public health outbreaks. Among leading enteric viruses, the Rotavirus A (RVA) detection in wastewater appeared to be a novel approach to monitor the emergence of these viruses in some countries where the viral gastroenteritis surveillance is almost absent such as in Tunisia. The RVA detection and quantification in an industrial sewage purification plant of Charguia I (Tunis, Tunisia) were achieved to evaluate the performance of activated sludge procedures coupled to a macrofiltration monolamp ultraviolet irradiation type C (UV-C) disinfection reactor.