Viral content of a sewage-polluted intertidal zone

Abstract

Viruses were repeatedly isolated from sewage, seawater and mussels at a sewage polluted intertidal zone. The sites investigated were shown to be grossly polluted by enumeration of sewage indicator bacteria. Although the presence of these bacteria indicated the potential presence of pathogens, their numbers did not correlate with the detection of viruses. The most frequently isolated viruses were Coxsackie ‘B’ type viruses, and adenoviruses. The study demonstrated that a meaningful test for the presence of viruses in water needs to specify the virus groups concerned. The range of cell cultures used, the number of replicate cells cultures used and the incubation period allowed before a sample was classed as negative must be specified.