Viruses

The main reservoir of intestinal viruses in the environment is human feces and contaminated wastewater. Sewage contamination preconditions further contamination of surface water serving as a source of water supply [2,7,8]. High resistance to physical and biological exposures ensures long-term survival of the viruses in water with various type and level of contaminants, especially in sewage. Detection of enteroviruses of a specific serotype in sewage indicates a significant number of people releasing the virus with feces [1,2]. There are two peaks of enteroviruses concentration in sewage: in January-April, and in June-September [8]. Sewage testing for enteroviruses is one of effective methods for their detection and risk assessment [3]. European region, including Ukraine, is recognized as free from of wild polioviruses, and a systematic study of sewage samples is important for identifying the possibilities of their "silent" circulation [6].

Objective: The purpose of the study was to confirm the hypothesis of possible intestinal viruses circulation in wastewater in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine.

Sewerage systems of villages, townships, cities and megacities convey the urine, stool, blood, and sputum of community members, enabling through analysis of community wastewater, a near real-time assessment of population health status and of emerging public health threats. Signature compounds and biomarkers targeted analytically for surveillance may include chemical and biological threat agents, transformation products of the same, human metabolites, biomarkers of exposure and other markers of interest. Additional information can be gleaned by analyzing, in a similar fashion, municipal sewage sludge resulting from wastewater treatment, a material that during treatment becomes enriched in persistent, hydrophobic and potentially bioaccumulative pollutants, while more biodegradable compounds are converted to methane mostly. When taken together, these multi-dimensional data sources promise to yield critical information on the health status, sustainability and resilience of rural and urban human populations in a new scientific approach termed population metabolism metrology, or for city environments, urban metabolism metrology.

Objective: To highlight the new science of population and urban metabolism metrology, for characterizing human exposures to biological agents, narcotics, antimicrobials and other contaminants of emerging concern using community wastewater as a diagnostic matrix.