Project report : a pilot study to attempt to estimate pathogenic human viruses in treated sewage : [dissertation] completed as a partial requirement for the Diploma in Natural Resources [Lincoln College]

Abstract

It has been noted (Stent, 1963) that viruses can survive in certain environments for times and under conditions at which their host cells are inactivated. In particular, viruses pathogenic to man may persist in sewage under conditions where assays for coliforms are negative. The aim of this short study is to ascertain whether phages parasitic upon the human intestinal commensal Escherichia coli could be used as an index of the number of pathogenic human viruses in sewage.