AUTHOR=Ballesté Elisenda , Blanch Anicet R. , Mendez Javier , Sala-Comorera Laura , Maunula Leena , Monteiro Silvia , Farnleitner Andreas H. , Tiehm Andreas , Jofre Joan , García-Aljaro Cristina TITLE=Bacteriophages Are Good Estimators of Human Viruses Present in Water JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.619495 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.619495 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
The detection of fecal viral pathogens in water is hampered by their great variety and complex analysis. As traditional bacterial indicators are poor viral indicators, there is a need for alternative methods, such as the use of somatic coliphages, which have been included in water safety regulations in recent years. Some researchers have also recommended the use of reference viral pathogens such as noroviruses or other enteric viruses to improve the prediction of fecal viral pollution of human origin. In this work, phages previously tested in microbial source tracking studies were compared with norovirus and adenovirus for their suitability as indicators of human fecal viruses. The phages, namely those infecting human-associated