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Selinka, Hans-Christoph

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Selinka
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Hans-Christoph
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Gerade angezeigt 1 - 3 von 3
  • Veröffentlichung
    Detection and characterization of hepatitis E virus genotype 3 in wastewater and urban surface waters in Germany
    (2020) Beyer, Sophia; Gnirrs, Regina; Selinka, Hans-Christoph; Szewzyk, Regine
    In highly populated areas, environmental surveillance of wastewater and surface waters is a key factor to control the circulation of viruses and risks for public health. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 is considered as an emerging pathogen in industrialized countries. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HEV in environmental waters in urban and suburban regions in Germany. HEV was monitored in water samples using quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) and nested RT-PCR without or with virus concentration via polyethylene glycol precipitation or ultracentrifugation. By RT-qPCR, 84-100% of influent samples of wastewater treatment plants were positive for HEV RNA. Genotypes HEV-3c and 3f were identified in wastewater, with HEV-3c being the most prevalent genotype. These data correlate with subtypes identified earlier in patients from the same area. Comparison of wastewater influent and effluent samples revealed a reduction of HEV RNA of about 1 log10 during passage through wastewater treatment plants. In addition, combined sewer overflows (CSOs) after heavy rainfalls were shown to release HEV RNA into surface waters. About 75% of urban river samples taken during these CSO events were positive for HEV RNA by RT-qPCR. In contrast, under normal weather conditions, only around 30% of river samples and 15% of samples from a bathing water located at an urban river were positive for HEV. Median concentrations of HEV RNA of all tested samples at this bathing water were below the limit of detection. Source: https://link.springer.com
  • Veröffentlichung
    Exploring surface water as a transmission medium of avian influenza viruses - systematic infection studies in mallards
    (2022) Ahrens, Ann Kathrin; Mettenleiter, Thomas C.; Selinka, Hans-Christoph
    Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) are an abundant anseriform migratory wild bird species worldwide and an important reservoir for the maintenance of low pathogenicity (LP) avian influenza viruses (AIV). They have also been implicated in the spread of high pathogenicity (HP) AIV after spill-over events from HPAIV-infected poultry. The spread of HPAIV within wild water bird populations may lead to viral contamination of natural habitats. The role of small shallow water bodies as a transmission medium of AIV among mallards is investigated here in three experimental settings. (i) Delayed onset but rapid progression of infection seeded by two mallards inoculated with either LP or HP AIV to each eight sentinel mallards was observed in groups with access to a small 100 L water pool. In contrast, groups with a bell drinker as the sole source of drinking water showed a rapid onset but lengthened course of infection. (ii) HPAIV infection also set off when virus was dispersed in the water pool; titres as low as 102 TCID50 L-1 (translating to 0.1 TCID50 mL-1) proved to be sufficient. (iii) Substantial loads of viral RNA (and infectivity) were also found on the surface of the birds' breast plumage. "Unloading" of virus infectivity from contaminated plumage into water bodies may be an efficient mechanism of virus spread by infected mallards. However, transposure of HPAIV via the plumage of an uninfected mallard failed. We conclude, surface water in small shallow water bodies may play an important role as a mediator of AIV infection of aquatic wild birds. © 2022 The Author(s)
  • Veröffentlichung
    Investigating environmental matrices for use in avian influenza virus surveillance - surface water, sediments, and avian fecal samples
    (2023) Ahrens, Ann Kathrin; Selinka, Hans-Christoph; Wylezich, Claudia
    Surveillance of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in wild water bird populations is important for early warning to protect poultry from incursions of high-pathogenicity (HP) AIV. Access to individual water birds is difficult and restricted and limits sampling depth. Here, we focused on environmental samples such as surface water, sediments, and environmentally deposited fresh avian feces as matrices for AIV detection. Enrichment of viral particles by ultrafiltration of 10-L surface water samples using Rexeed-25-A devices was validated using a bacteriophage Phi 6 internal control system, and AIV detection was attempted using real-time RT-PCR and virus isolation. While validation runs suggested an average enrichment of about 60-fold, lower values of 10 to 15 were observed for field water samples. In total 25/36 (60%) of water samples and 18/36 (50%) of corresponding sediment samples tested AIV positive. Samples were obtained from shallow water bodies in habitats with large numbers of waterfowl during an HPAIV epizootic. Although AIV RNA was detected in a substantial percentage of samples virus isolation failed. Virus loads in samples often were too low to allow further sub- and pathotyping. Similar results were obtained with environmentally deposited avian feces. Moreover, the spectrum of viruses detected by these active surveillance methods did not fully mirror an ongoing HPAIV epizootic among waterfowl as detected by passive surveillance, which, in terms of sensitivity, remains unsurpassed. © 2023 Ahrens et al.