ASM Calls For Focus On Microbial Pollution Of Nation's Water Supply

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 19 APRIL 1999

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

Webcast Of April 27, 1999 News Briefing

ASM Calls For Focus On
Microbial Pollution Of Nation's Water Supply

Contamination of our nation's drinking and recreational waters with disease-causing microorganisms is a growing public health and environmental problem that is not being adequately addressed by current water safety standards and research. Control of water pollution in the United States over the last two decades has consistently focused on risks associated with chemical pollutants overshadowing the significant risks posed by microbes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year in the United States up to 900,000 cases of illness and possibly 900 deaths occur as a result of waterborne microbial infections. Though the science of microbiology has taken great leaps forward, we still rely on standards and methods for water quality that are decades old and woefully out of date. There is a critical need for an integrated, national initiative on the microbial quality of water and on risk assessment as related to public health.

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WHO/WHAT:	The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) will host a briefing to present their recent report regarding microbial pollutants in our nation's drinking and recreational waters.
WHERE:	Zenger Room, National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW Continental breakfast will be served.
WHEN:	Tuesday, April 27, 1999, 9:00 a.m.
PRESENTERS:	James Tiedje, Ph.D. Chair, Committee on Environmental Microbiology ASM Public and Scientific Affairs Board University Distinguished Professor and Director Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University Joan Rose, Ph.D. Associate Professor, University of South Florida Mary Gilchrist, Ph.D. Chair, Committee on Laboratory Practices ASM Public and Scientific Affairs Board Director, University Hygienic Lab,University of Iowa

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