Endemic and epidemic infectious intestinal disease and its relationship to drinking water

Guidelines operate from the premise that pathogens do occur in the environment and that there is a susceptible population. This chapter examines this assumption in relation to gastrointestinal pathogens focusing largely on the drinking water environment. It examines the prevalence of diarrhoeal disease in different communities and compares the situation between developing and developed countries. It was only in the early part of the twentieth century that waterborne pathogenic microorganisms and their diseases were finally controlled to an acceptable level in the then rapidly industrialising countries. The control of these diseases was due to