Concentration and detection of hepatitis A virus and its indicator from artificial seawater using zeolite

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is the leading worldwide cause of acute viral hepatitis, and outbreaks caused by this virus often occur in fecal polluted waters. Rapid concentration and detection of viral contamination in water environments can prevent economic loss and can identify the source of contamination within a short time. However, conventional methods for virus concentration are often laborious, time consuming, and subject to clogging. Furthermore, most methods require a secondary concentration step to reduce the final volume of samples. We developed a method to concentrate HAV from seawater using zeolite in aid of rapid detection. In this method,artificial seawater was inoculated with HAV (7-8 log TCID50) and filtered with zeolite. The viruses were then eluted from zeolite with sodium dodecyl sulfate and detected via real-time PCR (qPCR). Zeolite was able to concentrate HAV from artificial seawater with ∼99% efficiency in less than 5 min and was more efficient in seawater than in fresh water. The entire concentration and detection can be done in approximately 2 h. Compared to existing methods, this method eliminated the need for a secondary concentration step as well as the necessity to modify the pH or salinity of the seawater during concentration, and was simple and inexpensive.