Severe rotavirus diarrhea in children <5 years of age is a major public health problem; however, limited regional and country specific data on rot

Cyclospora papionis , Cryptosporidium hominis , and Enterocytozoon bieneusi were detected in 42 (17.9%), 6 (2.6%), and 29 (12.3%) of 235 newly captured baboons in Kenya, respectively. Most C. hominis subtypes and E. bieneusi genotypes found have been detected in humans in the area, suggesting that cross-species transmission of cryptosporidiosis and microsporidiosis is possible.

Aim: To determine the occurrence of eight human enteric viruses in surface water and sewage samples from different geographical areas in Kenya. Methods and Results: Enteric viruses were recovered from the water and sewage sources by glass‐wool adsorption elution and/or polyethylene glycol/NaCl precipitation and detected by singleplex real‐time and conventional PCR and reverse transcriptase‐PCR assays. One or more enteric viruses were detected in nearly all sewage and river water samples except the urban Mbagathi River. The VP7 (G types) and the VP4 (P types) of the rotaviruses (RV) were characterized by multiplex nested PCR methods. The G and P types could be determined in 95·5% of the RV strains, respectively. Mixed G types were detected with G12 and G1 predominating, and unusual G types, G5 and G10, were present. P[4] predominated in the urban Karen sewage samples, while P[8] predominated in the urban and rural streams. Conclusions: The high prevalence of RVs in surface water highlights the importance of assessing the water sources used for domestic purposes for viral contamination. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study demonstrates the benefit of environmental surveillance as an additional tool to determine the epidemiology of RVs and other enteric viruses circulating in a given community.

Group A rotaviruses (RV) are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children globally. Waterborne transmission of RV and the presence of RV in water sources are of major public health importance. In this paper, we present the Global Waterborne Pathogen model for RV (GloWPa-Rota model) to estimate the global distribution of RV emissions to surface water. To our knowledge, this is the first model to do so. We review the literature to estimate three RV specific variables for the model: incidence, excretion rate and removal during wastewater treatment. We estimate total global RV emissions to be 2 × 10¹⁸ viral particles/grid/year, of which 87% is produced by the urban population. Hotspot regions with high RV emissions are urban areas in densely populated parts of the world, such as Bangladesh and Nigeria, while low emissions are found in rural areas in North Russia and the Australian desert. Even for industrialized regions with high population density and without tertiary treatment, such as the UK, substantial emissions are estimated. Modeling exercises like the one presented in this paper provide unique opportunities to further study these emissions to surface water, their sources and scenarios for improved management.

A human astrovirus (HAstV) strain from Kenya was characterized by nucleotide sequence analysis. Sequences from open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) clustered with genotype 6/7, those from ORF1b clustered with genotype 3, and those from ORF2 clustered with genotype 2. A recombination point in the ORF1b-ORF2 junction was identified, with a second possible recombination point within the ORF1a region.