ABSTRACT
To investigate the genetic characteristics of poliovirus isolates from environmental sewage surveillance in Shandong province, we collected sewage samples in Jinan and Linyi City. Serotyping and VP1/ 3D sequencing were performed on polioviruses isolated from the concentrated sewage samples, and VP1 mutation and recombination were analyzed. Thirty-two of sewage samples were collected, and polioviruses were detected in 10 of the samples with a positive rate of 31.3%. Eighteen Sabin strains were isolated including three type 1, nine type 2, and six type 3 polioviruses, and the number of nucleotide substitutions in VP1 coding region varied from 0 to 4. Recombination was found in three Sabin 2 and four Sabin 3 polioviruses. Analysis of neurovirulence sites of VP1 revealed that one Sabin 1 vaccine strain had a nucleotide change of A to G at nt 2749, one Sabin 2 strain had a nucleotide change of A to G at nt 2908, three Sabin 2 strains had a nucleotide change of U to C at nt 2909, and all six Sabin 3 strains had a nucleotide change of C to U at nt 2493. Poliovirus vaccine strains could be isolated from environmental sewage with a high rate of gene recombination and back mutation of neuvirulence-associated sites. None of wild-type poliovirus or vaccine-derived poliovirus was detected.