Concerns raised over viruses in bathing water

Researchers have warned that the water quality in many public bathing areas across Europe is being hampered by mild strains of viruses.

Environmental analysis carried out by 16 research groups from the Virobathe project has indicated that 40 per cent of the 1,400 bathing waters they investigated contained adenoviruses or noroviruses.

Nine different countries - one of which is Spain - have been discovered to be blighted by the problem.

Adenoviruses were found to be more prevalent in freshwater areas and some of the strains were discovered to be infectious.

Director of the University of Barcelona's Laboratory of Water and Food Viral Pollution Rosina Girones told the Plataforma Scientific Information and News Service that adenoviruses do not pose a significant risk to the public if they are common versions.

"However, we know that virus numbers in bathing waters increase following heavy rains, meaning they could end up reaching dangerous levels," she added.

It had been originally thought that Spain was the root cause of the recent outbreak of E. coli, but it was later traced to a farm in Germany.

Posted by Lauren Steadman