Concentration of enteric virus indicator from seawater using granular activated carbon

Fecal contamination of shellfish growing seawater with enteric viruses is often associated with human outbreaks of gastroenteritis. Male specific bacteriophage MS2 is correlated with those of enteric viruses in a wide range of water environments and has been used widely as a surrogate for pathogenic waterborne viruses. Since viruses in contaminated water are usually at low levels, the development of methods to concentrate viruses from water is crucial for detection purposes. In the present study, granular activated carbon was evaluated for concentration of MS2 from artificial seawater, and different parameters of the seawater were also compared. Recovery of MS2 from warm seawater (37 °C) was found to be significantly greater than from cold seawater (4 and 20 °C), and even greater than from fresh water (4, 20 and 37 °C); the difference between seawater and fresh water became less profound when the temperatures of both were below 37 °C. Although not of statistical significance, recovery of MS2 from low salinity seawater (10 and 20 parts per thousand, ppt) was greater than from high salinity seawater (30 and 40 ppt). One gram of granular activated carbon was able to extract 6-log plaque forming units (PFU) of MS2 from 500 ml seawater at 37 °C. This study demonstrated that granular activated carbon can concentrate an enteric virus indicator from shellfish growing seawater effectively.