Viruses in the water
In this report in Microbiology Today, Peter Wyn-Jones gives an overview of viruses that persist in drinking and recreational water, including water borne viruses as the cause of outbreaks of disease and new methods of detection being used to combat the problem:
Water-borne enteric viruses are probably not the first micro-organisms which spring to mind when thinking of polluted water. Cholera, typhoid and cryptosporidiosis are more prominent in the public mind, though viruses are likely to have been the cause of many outbreaks of water-borne disease. The difficulty has, until comparatively recently, been proving the link between the water and the sick person. The aquatic environment contains an ever-changing kaleidoscope of micro-organisms, including those present as a result of pollution by sewage and agricultural run-off.
