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Occurrence of Viruses and Protozoa in Drinking Water Sources of Japan and Their Relationship to Indicator Microorganisms

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Abstract

A nationwide survey of viruses, protozoa, and indicator microorganisms in drinking water sources of Japan was conducted. Among 64 surface water samples collected from 16 drinking water treatment plants, 51 (80 %) samples were positive for at least one of the 11 pathogen types tested, including noroviruses of genogroups I (positive rate, 13 %) and II (2 %), human sapoviruses (5 %), human adenoviruses of serotypes 40 and 41 (39 %), Cryptosporidium oocysts (41 %), and Giardia cysts (36 %). Total coliforms, Escherichia coli, and F-specific coliphages were detected in 63 (98 %), 33 (52 %), and 17 (27 %) samples, respectively, and E. coli was judged to be the most suitable indicator of pathogen contamination of drinking water sources. Genogroup-specific real-time PCR for F-specific coliphages revealed the presence of F-specific RNA coliphages of animal genogroup I and human genogroups II and III in 13 (41 %), 12 (39 %), and 1 (3 %), respectively, of 31 plaques isolated.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partially supported by the Environmental Research in Japan, “Evaluation and control of health risk from human-animal pollution sources in public water bodies,” from the Ministry of Environment, Japan. The authors thank the workers of the DWTPs for their kind cooperation in providing the raw water samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Research Center for River Basin Environment, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400-8511, Japan

    Eiji Haramoto

  2. Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona, 1117 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Masaaki Kitajima

  3. Division of Water Management, Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Public Health, 2-3-6 Minami, Wako, Saitama, 351-0197, Japan

    Naohiro Kishida, Mari Asami & Michihiro Akiba

  4. Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Hiroyuki Katayama

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  1. Eiji Haramoto
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Correspondence to Eiji Haramoto.

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Haramoto, E., Kitajima, M., Kishida, N. et al. Occurrence of Viruses and Protozoa in Drinking Water Sources of Japan and Their Relationship to Indicator Microorganisms. Food Environ Virol 4, 93–101 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-012-9082-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-012-9082-0

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