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DETECTION OF VIRUSES IN ENVIRONMENTAL WATERS, SEWAGE AND SEWAGE SLUDGES
Citation:
Hurst*, C J. AND K. A. Reynolds. DETECTION OF VIRUSES IN ENVIRONMENTAL WATERS, SEWAGE AND SEWAGE SLUDGES. Chapter 23, C.J. Hurst, et al. (ed.), Manual of Environmental Microbiology, Second Edition. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC, , 244-253, (2001).
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
There are many different groups of viruses that will be found in environmental waters. These include the many types of viruses whose hosts are natural aquatic organisms. There are also groups of viruses present in environmental waters which represent exogenous contaminants, whose hosts are non-aquatic plants and animals. Those water-associated viruses which are of greatest concern from the view point of human public health are viruses which replicate in cells of the human gastrointestinal tract. These are referred to as human enteric viruses, and they are shed in fecal material. The principal transmission route for enteric viruses is fecal-oral, meaning that they can cause illness when a susceptible host ingests fecally contaminated water or food. Septic tank effluents and wastewater from human populations doubtlessly contribute amny of the human enteric viruses that are found in surface waters and ground waters. The presence of human enteric viruses in surrace water can also result from human recreational activities performed either in or around those bodies of water. This chapter describes techniques that can be used for concentrating human enteric viruses from environmental water, drinking water, raw wastewater, wastewater sludges, and wastewater effluents.
