Fuecal Virus

The article, “Is contaminated groundwater an important cause of viral gastroenteritis in the United States?”, by Floyd Frost, Twila Kunde, and Gunther Craun, published in the Journal of Environmental Health, October 2002, describes how due to the contamination of groundwater, from sources such as runoff and sewage treatment plant effluents, many studies have been conducted regarding human health risks from potential viruses in groundwater. Waterborne outbreaks often occur, and are probably caused by viruses in drinking water. Because viruses are hard to detect in humans and water post-outbreak, most outbreaks are unrecognized and underestimated. Waterborne virus outbreaks in groundwater systems tend to be uncommon, so some researchers speculate …show more content…
Serological, or blood tests, can also identify asymptomatic cases, at risk persons, and those who have developed antibodies, however some viruses cannot be detected with this test, and cross-reactions can produce confusing results with time-consuming, costly solutions. The authors suggest that a virus detection program could be formed to research the spread of enteroviruses through monitoring groundwater and detecting viruses in human feces in high risk areas, and then follow at risk families to study the serological response to the fecal virus. Overall, the potential for groundwater contamination of fecal viruses is high due to the concentration of these pathogens in sewage and the large about of sewage discharged into the ground, yet the results of the study do not support a conclusion of widespread exposure or significant health risk. These studies can be incredibly costly, but despite this, the authors argue that “accurate epidemiological information on the risk of groundwater transmitting enteric viruses would be valuable because it could prevent costly under- or over-reaction to the risks from these pathogens”