Kevin Oshima likes his drinking water clean, which is a good thing for all of us.
Oshima, an assistant professor of biology at NMSU, has secured more than $55,000 in funding and equipment to detect health-damaging viruses in water supplies.
Citing a case in Milwaukee several years ago in which a bacterial outbreak caused hundreds of people to become ill, Oshima said it is important to "understand what contaminants are present and in what levels so that proper disinfection processes can be used."
Viral water contaminants, Oshima said, can cause a wide spectrum of illnesses from mild rashes and gastroenteritis to neurological diseases affecting motor skills and brain function to infections of the heart. Currently, he said, detection requires a large sample of water and a tedious process of isolating and detecting the virus. The result, he said, is that monitoring is expensive and time-consuming, and the results can be inconsistent, depending on the types of viruses present and the condition of the water being sampled.
Oshima said his research aims to develop ultrafiltration methods and state-of-the-art molecular methods to detect viral agents in water. To that end, he has received funding and supplies from the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute and private companies.
In this, the first year of his research, Oshima said he and two research assistants doctoral student John Olszewski and master's candidate Ann Ommani are spiking water samples with surrogate viruses and then employing various concentration and detection strategies to find the most efficient and consistent method for detecting viruses in various water conditions.
Oshima said his research eventually could lead to better and more cost-effective detection of waterborne viruses in any water source, whether it's underground, surface, treated or untreated water. Detection, in turn, could lead to improvements in public health.
New Mexico State University Assistant Professor of Biology Kevin Oshima in his lab. Photo by Jess Williams.
Note: WRRI funding for Dr. Oshima's project began July 1, 1997 and will continue through June 30, 1998. Results of Dr. Oshima's work will be published as part of the WRRI technical completion report series and reported in a future issue of the "Divining Rod."
