To highlight the importance of safe tap water and the need to reinvest in water infrastructure, the American Water Works Association and an alliance of organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are again sponsoring National Drinking Water Week, May 4^th through 10^th.

A safe, reliable water supply is critical to the success of any community. It creates jobs, attracts industry and investment, and provides for the health and welfare of citizens. During National Drinking Water Week, both water professionals and the communities they serve will join together to recognize the vital role water plays in our daily lives.

This year also marks the 100^th anniversary of one of the most significant public health advances in U.S. history - the chlorination of drinking water. Many improvements in the health and prosperity of the U.S. population over the past century can be attributed to better drinking water quality, and chlorination stands out as one of the most important factors in providing cleaner water. However, while the U.S. has one of the world's safest water supplies, there are an estimated four million to 33 million cases of gastrointestinal illness associated with U.S. public drinking water systems annually, according the CDC. The importance of maintaining and improving the nation's water infrastructure is the main goal behind National Drinking Water Week.

For more information on National Drinking Water Week, please visit:
Drinking Water Week Kicks Off May 4 - 10

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing $12 million to New York City to develop and evaluate a drinking water contamination warning system. Serving nine million people, New York City's water supply system is one of the largest in the world.

The pilot project, called the Water Security Initiative, is expected to have broad applications for the nation's drinking water utilities and could serve as a model for water utilities throughout the U.S. While specific details about the system were not divulged for security reasons, the contamination warning system to be installed and evaluated by New York City entails:

• Online water quality monitoring;
• Public health surveillance;
• Sampling and analysis;
• Enhanced security monitoring; and
• Consumer complaint surveillance.

In addition, the warning system is designed to be sustainable for long-term operation and to improve water quality management. EPA established its water security initiative in response to President Bush's homeland security directive to develop robust, comprehensive and fully coordinated surveillance and monitoring systems for water quality that provide early detection and awareness of disease, pest or poisonous agents.

For more information, please visit:
EPA Invests $12 Million to Secure New York City's Drinking Water Security

A team of researchers from Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States have found that each year seasonal influenza strains continually evolve in overlapping epidemics in Asia and sweep the rest of the world. The study, published in the April 18 issue of the journal Science, suggests that by focusing surveillance efforts on East and Southeast Asia, researchers may be able to extend their forecast of the flu strains most likely to cause epidemics. This extended forecast could help experts decide which strains should be a part of the annual flu vaccine.

For the study, researchers analyzed 13,000 samples of influenza A virus collected by the World Health Organization Global Influenza Surveillance Network from six continents from 2002 to 2007. The researchers compared a surface protein called hemagglutinin in the strain. Hemagglutinin is the main target of the immune response to the flu, and even small changes can evade the immune system and cause disease. The researchers also compared the genetic codes for hemagglutinin in a number of the flu strain samples.

Taken together, these analyses allowed the researchers to identify different strains of influenza A as they arrived at new locations around the world over the five-year period. The results revealed that strains emerge in East and Southeast Asia and then about six to nine months later reach Europe and North America. After several months, the strains reach South America where they dissipate.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), yearly flu epidemics cause some three million to five million cases of severe illness, and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths globally every year. In February and September each year, WHO specialists meet to select the strains of flu to use in preparing the coming season's vaccine. They base their selection on what they consider to be the strains that are most likely to pose the greatest threat to the global population.

For more information, please visit:
Scientists Track Seasonal Flu's Global Journey

The following letter was submitted to the Quad City Times in Davenport, IA:

Alma Gual's April 4th, article "What are these chemicals and what do they do?" touts certain benefits of "green cleaning products," but overlooks one important fact: green cleaning does not eliminate the need for good disinfection practices to control disease-causing bacteria and viruses. The article's advice to avoid a proven disinfectant such as chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is unwise.

Whether in your own kitchen, your child's school or your loved one's hospital room, use of a disinfectant after cleaning can help protect against a variety of serious health risks. While effective at killing microorganisms, such as E.coli, norovirus and Salmonella, products containing sodium hypochlorite can be used safely by following label directions. And studies show that sodium hypochlorite rapidly breaks down to salt water and does not accumulate in the environment.

Today, more than ever, consumers and policymakers must insist that disinfectants are employed effectively as the first line of defense in our homes, schools, healthcare facilities, nursing homes, and daycare centers where these deadly germs are most prevalent. I encourage readers to visit http://www.waterandhealth.org/ to learn more about the importance of disinfectants.

Joan B. Rose, Ph.D.
Water Research
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan

For more information on the article, please visit:
Response to Quad City Times Story on Cleaning and Disinfection

In The News-is a bi-weekly, online service from the Water Quality & Health Council.  The publication is updated every other Friday and can be viewed by logging onto www.waterandhealth.org.  To receive the publication via e-mail, please click here and enter your e-mail address to join our mailing list.