Hepatitis A virus in environmental water samples from the Amazon Basin

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a significant waterborne human pathogen. Of the global supply of potable water, Brazil retains 13%, of which 75% resides in the Amazon Basin. Although hepatitis A morbidity has declined progressively in Brazil as a whole, it remains high in the Amazon region. We used nested and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) to detect and quantify the viral load in water samples from the Amazon Basin. Most samples tested positive (92%), with viral loads varying from 60 to 5500 copies /L, depending on sanitary conditions and the degree of flooding. Nested RT–PCR of the VP1-2A region detected HAV RNA in 23% of the samples. In low viral load samples, HAV was detected only with real-time RT–PCR, suggesting that this technique is useful for monitoring HAV contamination. The presence of HAV in water samples constitutes a serious public health problem.