| In Europe, shellfish harvesting areas are classified according European Directive EC N°854/2004, using classic faecal indicator levels (Escherichia coli). A better indicator is needed, however, because shellfish may contain other human pathogens. Other indicator organisms have therefore been evaluated and, among these, coliphages meet most of the requirements to serve as indicators and models for enteroviruses. In order to evaluate the capacity of coliphages as indicators, a total of 764 shellfish were sampled in 2004 from 70 shellfish harvesting areas monitored by the Ifremer microbiological surveillance network (REMI, http://www.ifremer.fr/envlit/), and tested for F-specific RNA bacteriophages (FRNAPH). Two species of bivalve mollusc were collected... |
