Virus Occurrence and Survival in Reusable Resources: A Minireview

Abstract

This work covers important aspects of the occurrence and viability of various viruses in the two most common reusable waste resources: wastewater and biomass waste. Detection of human, bacterial and plant viruses in these wastes are summarized. Historically, human viruses have been monitored in wastewater for decades. Evidence suggests that wastewater mostly contains fecal-orally transmitted viruses, which are abundant and diverse. Recently, an increasing occurrence of SARS-CoV2 in sewage water with the spreading epidemics has been confirmed but lacking biological proof of infectivity yet. Besides human pathogens, wastewater is shown to be rich in bacteriophages and plant viruses as well, which supposedly enter the water from human guts. Viruses serving as water quality indicators are also discussed here. Lastly, we focus on biomass waste treatment, showing the presence of some common and stable plant viruses which may supposedly survive the technological process.