Waterborne gastroenteritis outbreak in Albania

Three different studies are reported concerning the environmental pollution caused by viruses in Albania. The first study describes an outbreak of gastroenteritis in the capital city, involving 2,722 children attending the Paediatric Unit of Tirana Hospital. The age group with the highest morbidity was 0-5 years, with 89.5%; no fatalities were recorded during the outbreak. Rotavirus was detected in 26/28 faecal samples by RT-PCR, although astrovirus, adenovirus and calicivirus were also present. The second study describes an outbreak of hepatitis A virus involving the city of Lac. Two hundred cases were recorded, with the highest incidence in the age-group 5-9 years. Phylogenetic analysis of the VP1/2A region showed the presence of a unique sequence: genotype IA. Rotavirus was identified in drinking-water samples collected during the outbreak. The third study describes the prevalence of HAV and HEV in 202 sera randomly collected from 12 different cities in Albania. HAV showed a high incidence (66.2%), whereas none was positive for HEV. The genomic analysis of the VP1/2A junction revealed the presence of only one genotype (IA) with few point mutations and just two amino acid substitutions at codons 22 and 34. Additionally, two potential antigenic variants were detected, the first at position 46 of VP3 and the second at position 23 of VP1.