Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Food and Environmental Virology https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-018-9358-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Detection of Human Enteric Viruses in French Polynesian Wastewaters, Environmental Waters and Giant Clams Laetitia Kaas 1  · Leslie Ogorzaly 2  · Gaël Lecellier 3,4,5  · Véronique Berteaux‑Lecellier 3,5  · Henry‑Michel Cauchie 2  · Jérémie Langlet 1 Received: 1 April 2018 / Accepted: 2 November 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Lack of wastewater treatment efciency causes receiving seawaters and bivalve molluscan shellfsh to become contaminated, which can lead to public health issues. Six wastewater samples, fve seawater samples and three batches of giant clams from Tahiti (French Polynesia) were investigated for the presence of enteric viruses, but also if present, for the diversity, infec- tivity and integrity of human adenoviruses (HAdV). Enteroviruses (EV), sapoviruses (SaV) and human polyomaviruses (HPyV) were detected in all wastewater samples. In decreasing frequency, noroviruses (NoV) GII and HAdV, rotaviruses (RoV), astroviruses (AsV), NoV GI and fnally hepatitis E viruses (HEV) were also observed. Nine types of infectious HAdV were identifed. HPyV and EV were found in 80% of seawater samples, NoV GII in 60%, HAdV and SaV in 40% and AsV and RoV in 20%. NoV GI and HEV were not detected in seawater. Intact and infectious HAdV-41 were detected in one of the two seawater samples that gave a positive qPCR result. Hepatitis A viruses were never detected in any water types. Analysis of transcriptomic data from giant clams revealed homologues of fucosyltransferases (FUT genes) involved in ligand biosynthesis that strongly bind to certain NoV strains, supporting the giant clams ability to bioaccumulate NoV. This was confrmed by the presence of NoV GII in one of the three batches of giant clams placed in a contaminated marine area. Overall, all sample types were positive for at least one type of virus, some of which were infectious and therefore likely to cause public health concerns. Keywords Noroviruses · Enteric viruses · Adenoviruses · Wastewater · Recreational water · Giant clams · Infectivity · Next- generation sequencing Introduction Acute viral gastroenteritis is a signifcant public health problem and is a primary cause of morbidity worldwide (Glass et al. 2000). Globally, human enteric viruses such as noroviruses (NoV) and rotaviruses (RoV) are responsible for the majority of cases of viral gastroenteritis. They are transmitted by the faecal-oral route, either through person- to-person transmission or by indirect transmission such as by consumption of contaminated food or water. Recreational, irrigation or shellfsh growing waters can become contami- nated when for instance municipal wastewater containing high levels of enteric viruses is not efciently treated and enters the environment (Bosch 2007). If these waters con- tain infectious viruses, this can lead to population health risks (Haile et al. 1999; Le Guyader and Atmar 2007). It is therefore essential to have a method that can efciently * Jérémie Langlet langlet.jeremie@gmail.com 1 Enteric, Environmental and Food Virology Laboratory, Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), Kenepuru Science Centre, PO BOX 50-348, Porirua 5240, New Zealand 2 Department of Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN), Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Belvaux, Luxembourg 3 PSL CRIOBE USR3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Labex CORAIL, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia 4 Département de Biologie, Université de Paris Saclay UVSQ, 45 Ave des Etats-Unis, 78000 Versailles, France 5 UMR250/9220 ENTROPIE IRD-CNRS-UR, Labex CORAIL, Promenade Roger-Laroque, Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia, France