title: Hepatitis E virus and coliphages in waters proximal to swine concentrated animal feeding operations.
abstract: North Carolina is the second leading state in pork production in the United States, with over 10 million swine. Swine manure in NC is typically collected and stored in open-pit lagoons before the liquid waste is sprayed onto agricultural fields for disposal. Components of this waste may be able to impact surface water quality with the potential for human exposure. This study examined viruses of public health concern in creeks adjacent to swine concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) spray fields. Surface water samples (n=154) were collected from public access waters in proximity to swine CAFO spray fields for six months and were tested for hepatitis E virus (HEV) and coliphages. HEV was detected in one sample. Somatic coliphages were detected in 98% of samples (geometric mean 24 ± 4.1 PFU per 100 ml), and F+ coliphages were detected in 85% of samples (geometric mean 6.8 ± 5.0 PFU per 100 ml). Only 3% (21) of the F+ coliphage isolates were RNA phage, and all of the F+ RNA coliphages belonged to genogroup I. Although the pervasiveness of swine CAFOs in this area prevented a comparison with samples from un-impacted sites, the near ubiquity of coliphages, as well as the presence of HEV, suggests that current waste management practices may be associated with the dissemination of viruses of public health concern in waters proximal to CAFO spray fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA. Electronic address: jen_shields@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gentry-Shields
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA. Electronic address: kevwmyers@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: npisanic@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pisanic
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: cheaney@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heaney
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7431, USA. Electronic address: jill.stewart@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D003090:Coliphages / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009657:North Carolina; D013552:Swine; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Coliphage; Concentrated animal feeding operation; Hepatitis E virus