Novel concentration method for the detection of norovirus and sapovirus from water using minute particles of amorphous calcium phosphate.

A novel concentration method using minute particles of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) was developed for the detection of caliciviruses including norovirus and sapovirus, agents of human gastroenteritis, from water. In seeding experiments with feline calicivirus (FCV), ACP particles were able to adsorb efficiently the viruses in water, and the FCV-concentrated solution was obtained by dissolution of the virus-adsorbing ACP particles with citric acid after centrifugation. By quantitative real-time RT-PCR, the recovery efficiencies from 300 ml ultrapure water seeded with 10³, 104 and >105 copies of FCV were 48, 68 and >100 %, respectively. A comparative study showed that in the addition of viruses at <105 copies, the recovery efficiency of our method was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the similar calcium flocculation-citrate dissolution method. Using our newly developed method, we successfully detected 2.1 x 104 copies l⁻¹ of norovirus (each of genogroups I and II) and 5.4 x 10³ copies l⁻¹ of sapovirus (genogroups I, II, IV and V) from river water. The data suggest that our new viral concentration is a rapid, simple, cost efficient and high virus recovery method, and it can be used for routine monitoring of norovirus and sapovirus in water, especially environmental water.