Detection of hepatitis A virus in sewage

Hepatitis A virus was found in the sewage of a town during an outbreak of hepatitis. The test for the presence of the virus in 50 ml sewage samples was carried out by affinity chromatography on an immunoadsorbent column followed by immune electron microscopy. The sewage samples were collected from several locations in the town. Hepatitis A virus was found only in a sample which was taken directly from the affected neighbourhood.