A Very Resilient Virus

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Add one to the long list of reasons why treating well water before drinking is so important—a study found that norovirus, responsible for the dreaded “stomach flu,” can exist for at least 61 days in untreated well water, and may be able to stick around for years. The study, which was reported in Scientific American’s “The Artful Amoeba" blog this week, involved (very brave) volunteer test subjects drinking water spiked with the virus. The scientists found that it sickened them through day 61, when the human experiment stopped. Traces of the virus were still evident in samples 3.5 years after it was added to the water, however.

According to the blog, a norovirus vaccine is in the works, but a more immediate solution is already here—the proper testing and treatment of any well water intended for human consumption.