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. 2008 Nov 20;65:249–269. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2164(08)00609-6

Table 9.10.

The Helsinki poliovirus experiment (Ranta et al., 2001)

Helsinki population = 740,000
Sewage flow 2 × 108 l/day
Contamination Event
5 × 1010 TCID50 Poliovirus vaccine
Flushed down toilet in one liter volume
20 km from sewage treatment plant
Detection
Automatic sampler = 200 ml per 5 × 106 liters of sewage flow
Four samples pooled per day
Concentrated from 400 to 1 ml before assay
Result
Virus was detected for the next 4 days (cell culture)
Peak 24–48 h after flush
Virus detected after passage of 800 million liters of sewage pass through system
Conclusion
Monitoring of sewage could detect 1 infected person in 10,000
Assumes:
  • 108 infectious virus excreted by child in 4 days