Prevalence of Rotavirus in shellfish from Southern Kerala

Abstract

Aim: To study the prevalence of Rotavirus in shellfish from Southern Kerala. Materials and Methods: The shellfish samples after processing was concentrated using proteinase K. RNA was isolated from the concentrated samples using phenol chloroform method. Rota viral RNA was detected using reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction. Results: A low prevalence of 2.5% (5/200) was obtained during the study. Rotavirus was detected in 2 out of 60 brown mussels (3.33%), 2 out of 70 yellow clams (2.86%) and 1 out of 70 black clams (1.43%). Conclusion: Low prevalence of Rotavirus was obtained in our study. A more extensive study need to be conducted to estimate the prevalence of enteric virus in shellfish.

Keywords

• concentration
• proteinase K
• reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
• Rotavirus
• shellfish