Advanced Detection of Viruses and Protozoan Parasites in Water
Morteza Abbaszadegan
Abstract
More than several hundreds of enteric microbial pathogens are known to infect man. Enteric viruses and parasites are excreted in the feces of infected individuals and may directly or indirectly contaminate water intended for drinking. These microbes are excreted in high numbers, 105-1011 per gram of feces of infected individuals and are commonly isolated in domestic wastewater, even after disinfection. Once in the environment they can survive for long period of time, even months under the right conditions. Ground andsurface water may be subjected to fecal contamination from a variety of sources, including sewage treatment plant effluents, on-site septic waste treatment discharges, land runoff from urban, agricultural and natural areas, and leachates from sanitary landfills. The purpose of this paper is to describe biotechnology approaches and compare with conventional methods for the analysis of water samples for the detection of pathogenic microorganisms.