Dr Kata Farkas
Environmental Virologist
Contact info
Environment Centre Wales
School of Natural Sciences
Bangor University
Bangor LL57 2UW, UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1248 382615
Email: k.farkas@bangor.ac.uk
I competed my PhD in microbiology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand in 2014. My research focused on the fate and behaviour of enteric viruses in groundwater. After finishing my studies, I was involved in various project that uses viral metagenomics approaches to identify viruses (both known and novel) in various ecosystems. Since 2015, I have been working at the Bangor University, on the Viraqua Project (www.viraqua.uk; 2015-2018) and at the Shellfish Centre (2019-onward).
My research focuses on the ecology and survival of viruses in the aquatic environment with a special interest in the fate of enteric viruses. Enteric viruses are responsible for the majority of gastroenteral illnesses globally putting an enormous burden on healthcare systems and the wider economy. These pathogens are often found in water reservoirs (recreational and drinking water sources, shellfish harvesting areas) and hence responsible for water- and foodborne outbreaks. I design and validate methods for the recovery of enteric viruses in the aquatic environment in order to quantify infectious viruses, understand viral ecology, describe novel and emerging strains and model viral transport in the environment.
- Published
Tracing the fate of wastewater viruses reveals catchment-scale virome diversity and connectivity
Adriaenssens, E. M., Farkas, K., McDonald, J. E., Jones, D. L., Allison, H. E. & McCarthy, A. J., 15 Sept 2021, In: Water Research. 203Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Viromic Analysis of Wastewater Input to a River Catchment Reveals a Diverse Assemblage of RNA Viruses
Adriaenssens, E. M., Farkas, K., Harrison, C., Jones, D. L., Allison, H. E. & McCarthy, A., 22 May 2018, In: mSystems. 3, 3, e00025-18.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Comparison of virus concentration methods for the RT-qPCR-based recovery of murine hepatitis virus, a surrogate for SARS-CoV-2 from untreated wastewater
Ahmed, W., Bertsch, P., Bivins, A., Bibby, K., Farkas, K., Gathercole, A., Haramoto, E., Gyawali, P., Korajkic, A., McMinn, B., Mueller, J., Simpson, S., Smith, W., Symonds, E., Thomas, K., Verhagen, R. & Kitajima, M., 15 Oct 2020, In: Science of the Total Environment. 739, 139960.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Development and validation of a duplex RT-qPCR assay for norovirus quantification in wastewater samples
Alex-Sanders, N., Woodhall, N., Farkas, K., Scott, G., Jones, D. L. & Walker, D. I., 1 Nov 2023, In: Journal of Virological Methods. 321, 114804.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Molecular characterization and prevalence of two capulaviruses: Alfalfa leaf curl virus from France and Euphorbia caput-medusae latent virus from South Africa
Bernardo, P., Muhire, B., Francois, S., Deshoux, M., Hartnady, P., Farkas, K., Kraberger, S., Filloux, D., Fernandez, E., Galzi, S., Ferdinand, R., Granier, M., Marais, A., Blasco, P. M., Candresse, T., Escriu, F., Varsani, A., Harkins, G. W., Martin, D. P. & Roumagnac, P., 1 Jun 2016, In: Virology. 493, p. 142-153Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Global Collaborative to Maximize Contributions in the Fight Against COVID-19
Bivins, A., North, D., Ahmad, A., Ahmed, W., Alm, E., Been, F., Bhattacharya, P., Bijlsma, L., Boehm, A. B., Brown, J., Buttiglieri, G., Calabro, V., Carducci, A., Castiglioni, S., Gurol, Z. C., Chakraborty, S., Costa, F., Curcio, S., de los Reyes, F. L. . III., Vela, J. D., Farkas, K., Fernandez-Casi, X., Gerba, C., Gerrity, D., Girones, R., Gonzalez, R., Haramoto, E., Harris, A., Holden, P. A., Islam, M. T., Jones, D. L., Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Kitajima, M., Kotlarz, N., Kumar, M., Kuroda, K., La Rosa, G., Malpei, F., Mautus, M., McLellan, S. L., Medema, G., Meschke, J. S., Mueller, J., Newton, R. J., Nilsson, D., Noble, R. T., van Nuijs, A., Peccia, J., Perkins, T. A., Pickering, A. J., Rose, J., Sanchez, G., Smith, A., Stadler, L., Stauber, C., Thomas, K., van der Voorn, T., Wigginton, K., Zhu, K. & Bibby, K., 7 Jul 2020, In: Environmental Science and Technology. 54, 13, p. 7754-7757Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
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City-wide wastewater genomic surveillance through the successive emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants
Brunner, F. S., Brown, M. R., Bassano, I., Denise, H., Khalifa, M. S., Wade, M. J., van Aerle, R., Kevill, J. L., Jones, D. L., Farkas, K., Jeffries, A. R., Cairns, E., Wierzbicki, C. & Paterson, S., 1 Nov 2022, In: Water research. 226, 119306.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
The ancient evolutionary history of polyomaviruses
Buck, C. B., Van Doorslaer, K., Peretti, A., Geoghegan, E. M., Tisza, M. J., An, P., Katz, J. P., Pipas, J. M., McBride, A. A., Camus, A. C., McDermott, A. J., Dill, J. A., Delwart, E., Ng, T. F. F., Farkas, K., Austin, C., Kraberger, S., Davison, W., Pastrana, F. V. & Varsani, A., 19 Apr 2016, In: PLoS Pathogens. 12, 4, e1005574.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Prevalence and relative risk of rotavirus gastroenteritis in children under five years in Nigeria: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Digwo, D., Chidebelu, P., Ugwu, K., Adediji, A., Farkas, K. & Chigor, V., Feb 2023, In: Pathogens and Global Health. 117, 1, p. 24-35 12 p., 2043223.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Critical Evaluation of CrAssphage as a Molecular Marker for Human-Derived Wastewater Contamination in the Aquatic Environment
Farkas, K., Adriaenssens, E. M., Walker, D. I., McDonald, J., Malham, S. & Jones, D. L., 1 Jun 2019, In: Food and Environmental Virology. 11, 2, p. 113-119Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review