Evaluation of F-RNA coliphages as indicators of viruses and the source of faecal pollution

Abstract

It is a growing concern that analyses of true indicators of pathogenic viruses have not been properly established. Water treatment and catchment management strategies based on bacteriological indicators do not provide the necessary protection against viral infections because viruses are more persistent than bacteria in water environments. More than 100 types of human pathogenic viruses may be present in faecally polluted water, but only a small number can be detected by currently available methods. Analysing for enteric viruses such as the polio and hepatitis viruses is specialised and is neither practical nor commercially viable for a water utility. Human enteric viral disease is considered to be predominantly associated with human wastes, as opposed to animal wastes, and a distinction between these is desirable. Somatic coliphages are not always present whenever enteric viruses were detected and have been found to multiply in the environment outside the body.

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