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In some countries, it has been firmly established that shellfish could play a significant role as reservoir of human enteric viruses. Several outbreaks of infectious hepatitis were traced to the ingestion of contaminated oysters and hard clams. Furthermore, numerous studies demonstrated clearly that enteroviruses of all four subgroups were present in contaminated streams, in sewage, and in effluent from the sewage treatment plants. In Korea, intensive studies have been made on the contamination of fishes and shellfish with V.parahaemolyticus. However, no effort has been made to isolate and to define the nature of enteroviruses contaminating the shellfish. The purpose of this study were 1) to examine the susceptibility and applicability of HeLa and Vero cell lines for the isolation of enteroviral agents from shellfish samples, 2) to evaluate the efficiency of shellfish processing procedure for the virus isolation from shellfish, and 3) to isolate enteroviral agents from a variety of shellfish (Meretrix lusoria, Tapes philippinarum, Tapes variegata, Saxidomus purpuratus, Tegillarca granosa, Scpharca broughtonii) in Vero cells through blind passages and plaque formation assay. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Of 19 shellfish samples tested, only 3 produced definite CPE in Vero cells through blind passages up to the 2nd passage. However, plaque assays in Vero cells with ultracentrifugation sediments, and 1st and 2nd passage supernatants in Vero cells were all negative. 2. This study demonstrated that the culture of Vero cell line is suitable for the isolation of poliovirus from shellfish samples. 3. Recovery experiment of poliovirus added to the shellfish homogenate showed that shellfish processing procedure for virus isolation was applicable for the isolation of poliovirus but the virus recovery rate was significantly low.
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