Interference between enterovirus and reovirus as a limiting factor in environmental virus detection

Aims: Faecal material from raw sewage or other sources lacking effective treatment sometimes contaminates water for human consumption. The relevant Italian regulations therefore call for testing drinking and recreational water for the presence of enterovirus. Methods and Results: Traditional methods of analysis are based on revealing the typical cytopathic effects of enterovirus on cell cultures. However, the presence in environmental samples of different types of virus may cause interference phenomena that mask such cytopathic effects. The paper reports on an experimental test of this interference hypothesis. Buffalo Green Monkey cell cultures were co-infected via mixed suspensions of the polio type 3 virus and reovirus type 1. Cytopathic effects were then sought and the presence of enterovirus tested for via RT-PCR. Conclusions. Significance and Impact of the Study: The results obtained indicate that the normally high sensitivity of tests for the detection of enterovirus in samples is considerably decreased by the simultaneous presence of reovirus.