Scientists Seek Early Warning Of Drinking Wat...( nism of concern in drinking waters...)

There is reason to suspect a "new crypto" could be lurking, Harrington says. Since scientists have only recently been able to accurately detect many of the waterborne pathogens that cause illness, some newly-identified types may have been causing low levels of disease for years.

That's true of several pathogens in the study. A class of viruses called caliciviruses has been traced to recent waterborne outbreaks in the United States. The bacterium Escherichia coli 0157:H7, has caused at least two waterborne outbreaks that affected more than 300 people. In North and South America, the parasite Cyclospora has caused serious health problems for people relying on untreated drinking water.

Battigelli noted that medical treatment is not available for some diseases caused by these pathogens. In many cases, people rely exclusively on their body's immune system to fight them off. Mortality rates can be high among those with undeveloped or weakened immune systems, such as the very young, the elderly, chemotherapy patients, AIDS patients and transplant recipients.

In this project, the team will be studying viruses 100 times smaller than crypto - organisms which could more easily pass through some water-treatment technology. Other pathogens can be very resistant to the standard chemical treatment of chlorination.

The study will also help gauge performance of new water treatment technologies, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Those methods include dissolved air flotation and microfiltration. These treatments are more effective and more costly.

The crypto threat has driven a public willingness to pay for better and safer technologies, Harrington says. The c
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Contact: Greg Harrington
harringt@engr.wisc.edu
608-263-7773
University of Wisconsin-Madison
10-Apr-1998