What Waterborne Diseases Are

In cell culture, it has been shown that one virion can produce infection. In the human host, because of acquired resistance and a variety of other factors, the one virion/one infection possibility does not exist. 

Very little is known of the epidemiology of waterborne diseases. The current database is insufficient to determine the scope and intensity of the problem. The devastating effect of epidemics is sufficient to rank water-associated epidemics as a most important public health problem. 

Viruses and bacteria may be eliminated by chemical methods or by irradiation, and organic poisons may also be controlled. Inorganic matter must be removed by other means. 

The circumstances under which water becomes contaminated are as varied as the ways water is taken internally. It is then conceivable that almost any virus could be transmitted through the water route. The increased use of water for recreational purposes increases the incidence of human contact with bodies of water and, consequently, with waterborne viruses and bacteria. The major waterborne viruses among pathogens, and the most likely candidates for water transmission, are the picornaviruses (from pico, meaning very small, and RNA, referring to the presence of nucleic acid). The characteristics of picornaviruses are shown in Table 1. Among the picornaviruses are the enteroviruses (polioviruses, coxsackieviruses. 

Resistant to ether, chloroform, and bile salts, indicating lack of essential lipids 

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