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. 1977;55(4):431–434.

Persistence of enteroviruses in sewage sludge*

T P Subrahmanyan
PMCID: PMC2366672  PMID: 202416

Abstract

Sewage from residential areas often contains viruses pathogenic for man and significant amounts are probably associated with solids in sewage sludge. Information on the survival of viruses in sewage sludge is necessary in order to develop guidelines for recycling programmes that involve spreading the sludge on land. In the present study, a number of enteroviruses were added to sewage sludge and the artificially contaminated sludges were tested for viruses at intervals over a 12-week period. Most of the viruses survived for many weeks at room temperature. It is clear that sewage sludge destined for land application should be adequately treated for virus inactivation. In interpreting these results, it should be borne in mind that the survival of hepatitis A virus might be similar. Recent reports about the reappearance of poliomyelitis in regions with immunization programmes should also be taken into consideration.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Sattar S. A., Westwood J. C. Comparison of four eluents in the recovery of indigenous viruses from raw sludge. Can J Microbiol. 1976 Oct;22(10):1586–1589. doi: 10.1139/m76-233. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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