< Return to Projects

Environmental Transmission of Hepatitis A Virus in a Zebra Mussel-Dominated Foodchain

Year Awarded: 1997
Awarded: $17,027
Team Leader:  The Ohio State University
Tel: 614-292-2133
Email: Fisher.14@osu.edu

The project team evaluated the potential for zebra mussels to concentrate and transmit human pathogens through the open lake and near shore food chains. The team found that zebra mussels rapidly concentrate Hepatitis A from water in laboratory settings. However, mussel samples from 60 different locations did not contain Hepatitis A virus, hampering the team’s efforts to explore the real-world context for introductions of biological pollution.