Environmental water quality issues have dominated global discourse and studies over the past five decades. Significant parameters\nof environmental water quality include changes in biological and physical parameters. Some of the biological parameters of\nsignificance include occurrence of enteric viruses. Enteric viruses can affect both human and animalâ??s health by causing diseases\nsuch as gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. In this study, the relationship between the occurrence of enteric viruses with\nreference to adenoviruses and enteroviruses and the physical water quality characteristics was assessed from water samples\ncollected from Lake Victoria (LV) in Kenya. In order to understand the dynamics of season driven enteric virusesâ?? contamination\nof the lake waters, we additionally analysed seasonal behavior of the lakeâ??s catchment area in terms of rainfall effects. Physical\nquality parameters were measured on-site while viral analysis was carried out by molecular methods using the nested polymerase\nchain reaction (nPCR). From 216 samples that were analysed for viral contamination, enteric viral genomes were discovered in 18\n(8.3%) of the samples. Out of half of the samples (108) collected during the rainy season, enteric viral genomes were detected in\n9.26% (10) while 8 (7.41%) samples tested positive from the other half of the samples (108) collected during the dry season. There\nwas, however, no significant correlation noted between the physical water quality characteristics and the enteric virusesâ?? occurrence.\nNeither wet season nor dry season was significantly associated with the prevalence of the viruses. In Lake Victoria\nwaters, most of the samples had an average of physical water quality parameters that were within the range accepted by the World\nHealth Organization (WHO) for surface waters with exemption of turbidity which was above the recommended 5 NTU as\nrecorded from some sampling sites. Continuous and long-term surveillance of the lake water to accurately monitor the contaminants\nand possible correlation between chemical, physical, and biological characteristics is recommended. This would be\nimportant in continuous understanding of the hydrological characteristics changes of the lake for proper management of its\nquality with reference to the WHO standards. A multiple varied-sampling approach in different geographical regions during\ndifferent seasons is recommended to establish the geographical distribution and relatedness to seasonal distribution patterns of the\nviruses. The data generated from this study will be useful in providing a basis for assessment of seasonally driven fecal pollution\nload of the lake and enteric virus contamination for proper management of the sanitary situation around the lake.
Loading....