Abstract
Rotavirus is one of the most common enteric viruses that can be transmitted via contaminated water globally. From the hygienic point of view, the occurrence of rotaviruses in drinking water is not acceptable. Investigations about the presence of rotaviruses in tap water are very limited in Egypt. Overall 72 tap water samples were collected and concentrated for the detection of rotavirus group A (RV-A) VP6 gene using RT-PCR. The positive samples for RV-A were further analyzed using multiplex semi-nested RT-PCR for identification P and G rotavirus genotypes. A total of 8.3% tap water samples were positive for rotavirus group A using nested RT-PCR. The temporal distribution showed that rotaviruses isolates were noticed in three seasons, 16.7% (3/18) in autumn, 11.1% (2/18) in winter and 5.6% (1/18) in spring, while in summer there were no positive samples. Statistically, seasonal variation had no considerable effect on the prevalence of RV-A in tap water samples. About 83.3% of G-type rotaviruses were belonging to G1-type, while 50% of the rotaviruses strains were P[8] and 16.7% were P[6]. In conclusion, the presence of RV-A into tap water represented a public health risk and our findings demonstrated the urgent need to add viral parameters to water quality surveillance.
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