title: Environmental surveillance for human astrovirus in Shandong Province, China in 2013.
abstract: Human astroviruses (HAstVs) are one of the leading viral agents of acute gastroenteritis. However, there is limited information on HAstVs in China. Here, we describe the molecular characterization of HAstVs in Shandong, China via sewage surveillance. A total of 23 sewage samples were collected from sewage treatment plants in the cities of Jinan and Linyi in 2013. After concentration via adsorption-elution method, 9 samples (39.1%) were positive by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) for the presence of the 719-nt HAstV nucleotide sequence. Genetic cloning and sequencing were performed on positive PCR products, and 26 HAstV sequences were obtained. Phylogenetic analysis on these sequences revealed 4 genotypes (HAstV-1, -2, -4 and -5), with HAstV-1 and -5 as the most common genotypes in Jinan and Linyi, respectively. Homologous comparison revealed Shandong sequences had relatively less genetic divergence among themselves than with foreign sequences. This study represents the first effort to investigate the genotypes and molecular epidemiology of HAstVs via sewage surveillance in China. The high detection rate in this study reflects that HAstVs circulated at a relatively high frequency in the local population, and demonstrates that environmental surveillance is an effective method in investigating circulating HAstVs.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: 1] Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China [2] Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 1] Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China [2] Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Suting
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1] Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China [2] Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenfeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 1] Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China [2] Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zexin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: 1] School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China [2] Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China [3] Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Aiqiang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D001257:Mamastrovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012722:Sewage / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D012722:Sewage