Comparison between specific and multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for detection of hepatitis A virus, poliovirus and rotavirus in experimentally seeded oysters

Outbreaks of gostroenteritis have occurred among consumers of raw or undercooked shellfish harvested from faecally polluted waters. A multiple reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied for the simultaneous detection of hepatitis A virus (HAV), poliovirits (PV) and simion rotavirus (RV-SA11]) and compared with specific primers for each genome sequence. Three amplified DNA products representing HAV (192 bp), PV (394 bp) and RV (278 bp) were identified when positive controls were used. However, when tested on experimentally) contaminated)raw, oysters, this method was not able to detect the three viruses simiultaneously. This is probably due to the low concentration of viral RNAs present in oyster extract which were partially lost during the extracts preparation.