Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Pharmaceuticals in Water

Detailed Description

A USGS analyst performs DNA extractions on enriched cultures of water samples collected from a watershed (South Fork Iowa River, Iowa) where swine manure was applied to agricultural fields. Once the DNA was extracted it was used to detect pathogen gene markers using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Scientists detected hepatitis E virus and other livestock-related pathogens in streams.