Enteroviruses are primarily transmitted via the fecal-oral route and can remain infectious in the environment for extended periods. Their ability to persist in water and travel downstream from wastewater treatment plants to estuarine ecosystems poses a significant public health risk, especially in the context of oyster farming. This project aims to assess the stability of different Enterovirus genotypes in river water, to ultimately inform downstream oyster farms of potential contamination events. We include river water under regular flow conditions, but also under extreme weather events such as flooding and droughts. These events, which are increasing in frequency as a result of climate change, alter the environmental conditions in rivers and estuaries, potentially affecting the stability of Enteroviruses in these ecosystems.
Collaborators: IFREMER (France), Marine Institute (Ireland), Erasmus Medical Center (The Netherlands), Wageningen University (The Netherlands) and BiOceanOr (France).
Funding: WATER 4 ALL JOINT TRANSNATIONAL CALL 2022: “Management of water resources: resilience, adaptation and mitigation to hydroclimatic extreme events and management tools”