28th ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP April 21-25, 2003 Potential Impact Of Humans On Coral Reef Health Dale W. Griffin US Geological Survey, Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies, 600 4th St. South, St. Petersburg, Florida Microbiological research has shown that humans are impacting water quality in canals and open waters of the Florida Keys. One particular series of studies utilized bacteriophage seeded into septic tanks and injection wells to demonstrate that microorganisms of human origin are rapidly transported from these systems to regional surface waters in the upper, middle and lower Florida Keys. These studies led to a survey of human enteric viruses (enteroviruses, HAV, Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses) in canals and nearshore Keys sites and demonstrated the presence of one or more human specific viruses in 95% of the sample sites that were surveyed. In a following study, coral mucus taken from nearshore corals was screened for the presence of human enteroviruses in addition to bacterial indicator organisms typically associated with fecal waste. A majority of these samples were positive for the presence of human enteroviruses RNA (93.3%) and/or viable bacterial indicators (66.7%). Data acquired from a recent study has shown that these organisms may be detected in offshore reefs in the Florida Keys. This presentation will briefly summarize these studies and address the potential implications of these data in relation to coral reef health. Return to 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page