Monitoring Chesapeake Bay Shellfish for Human Enteroviruses

摘要

Shellfish have long been known to take up and accumulate viruses present in polluted waters. Enterovirus-contaminated shellfish are also suspected of posing a public health threat, as many of these viruses are quite stable in the estuarine environment. This study focuses on oysters, the most harvested molluscan shellfish of the Chesapeake, using samples from a number of commercial bars in the Maryland portion of the Bay to look for possible contamination by enteroviruses. Results of the oyster monitoring study indicate that there currently does not seem to be a problem of enterovirus contamination in commercially harvested oysters from the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Oyster samples taken from waters closed to shellfish harvesting due to nearby sewage treatment plant outfalls were also negative for enterovirus contamination, although no shellfish samples were obtained from waters which are heavily polluted with raw domestic sewage.