The main objectives of this thesis are the study of emerging viral pathogens of interest in food safety, by assessing their prevalence and environmental dissemination, and the characterization of the microbiological risk associated with the presence of pathogenic viruses in sewage reuse and consumption of bivalve molluscs. Thus, we studied the presence of hepatitis E virus (HEV), hepatitis A (HAV), norovirus (NoV), new polyomaviruses (KIPyV, WUPyV and MCPyV) and human adenovirus (HAdV) as an indicator of fecal contamination. The samples analyzed were raw sewage, reclaimed water (secondary and tertiary), river water and bivalve molluscs. Furthermore, it has sought to improve the methodology for concentration of viral particles from sewage, as well as provide information about the viral removal efficiency through sewage depuration treatments and shellfish production companies. Finally, a mathematical model has been established for a quantitative microbial risk assessment. Thus, the conclusions of these studies are described below. The HEV prevalence observed in sewage demonstrate that HEV is circulating among the Spanish population and that sewage is a source of infection. Moreover, the sporadic presence of HEV genotype 1 confirms the wide distribution of different genotypes. Regarding the pattern of HAV excretion, no significant differences emerged when comparing sewage from two adjacent areas with different vaccination programs and equivalent levels of sanitation; hence, it is presumed that the drastic reduction observed during lately is mainly due to improvements in healthcare. New polyomaviruses have been detected in sewage and river water, indicating their potential involvement in the fecal-oral route through contaminated water and representing the first description of cancer-associated virus in sewage and river. On the other hand, sewage treatment plants significantly reduce the presence of high-resistance fecal contamination indicators and three new methods to concentrate virus particles from sewage have been developed. Also, it has reaffirmed the presence of NoV GGII and HAV in samples that meet the European regulations through the detection of bivalve molluscs collected at market and samples linked to a hepatitis A outbreak, respectively. The efficiency of three treatments for bivalve molluscs depuration was found limited at reducing the presence of HAdV. In addition, a significant correlation between the identification of positive bivalve shellfish samples for HAdV and NoV GGII has been described, showing high sensitivity and specificity. Finally, using dose-response models we have mathematically modeled the risk of NoV infection and disease associated with raw oyster consumption.