Emerging Human Coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2) in the Environment Associated with Outbreaks Viral Pandemics

In December 2019, there was a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city of about 11 million people in Hubei Province. The World Health Organization (WHO), qualified CoVid-19 as an emerging infectious disease on March 11, 2020, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which spreads around the world. Coronaviruses are also included in the list of viruses likely to be found in raw sewage, as are other viruses belonging to the Picornaviridae family. SRAS-CoV-2 has been detected in wastewater worldwide such as the USA, France, Netherlands, Australia, and Italy according to the National Research Institute for Public Health and the Environment. In addition, the SARS-CoV-2 could infect many animals since it has been noticed in pigs, domestic and wild birds, bats, rodents, dogs, cats, tigers, cattle. Therefore, the SARS-CoV-2 molecular characterization in the environment, particularly in wastewater and animals, appeared to be a novel approach to monitor the outbreaks of viral pandemics. This review will be focused on the description of some virological characteristics of these emerging viruses, the different human and zoonotic coronaviruses, the sources of contamination of wastewater by coronaviruses and their potential procedures of disinfection from wastewater

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae from animal origin and wastewater in Tunisia: first detection of O25b-B23-CTX-M-27-ST131 Escherichia coli and CTX-M-15/OXA-204-producing Citrobacter freundii from wastewater

[Objectives] This study aimed to isolate and characterise extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) isolates from animals and wastewater in Tunisia.[Methods] ESBL-E from wastewater (n = 123 samples), faeces of healthy animals (poultry, sheep, goats and calves) (n = 140) and raw milk from healthy cows (n = 42) and goats (n = 20) were investigated. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined according to CLSI recommendations. The blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX-M and blaOXA-48 genes were analysed by PCR and sequencing. Phylogenetic groups were determined by PCR for Escherichia coli isolates. The clonality of E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates was determined by XbaI-PFGE and MLST.[Results] A total of 81 E. coli, 20 K. pneumoniae, 4 Enterobacter cloacae, 1 Citrobacter freundii and 1 Citrobacter braakii were isolated. The blaCTX-M-1 and blaCTX-M-15 genes were predominant in E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates. E. cloacae and C. braakii isolates harboured the blaSHV-12 gene. The C. freundii isolated from wastewater carried blaCTX-M-15, blaTEM-1 and blaOXA-204. E. coli isolates belonged to phylogroups A (37), B1 (25), B2 (7) and D (12). Seventy-eight E. coli isolates were typeable by PFGE and were classified into 34 pulsotypes. The K. pneumoniae isolates belonged to 11 pulsotypes. The E. coli isolates belonged to sequence types ST131, ST224, ST162, ST845, ST5204, ST69, ST141 and ST10. The K. pneumoniae isolates belonged to ST405, ST147, ST564, ST307, ST152, ST45, ST661 and ST1564.[Conclusion] This is the first report of O25b-B23-CTX-M-27-ST131 E. coli isolates and of C. freundii carrying blaCTX-M-15, blaTEM-1 and blaOXA-204 in Tunisia.This study was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (Tunisia) and the University of Seville (Seville, Spain)