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.
- Article › Research › Peer-reviewed
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Simultaneous detection and characterization of common respiratory pathogens in wastewater through genomic sequencing
Williams, R. C., Farkas, K., Garcia-Delgado, A., Adwan, L., Kevill, J. L., Cross, G., Weightman, A. J. & Jones, D. L., 1 Jun 2024, In: Water research. 256, 121612.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Site Specific Relationships between COVID-19 Cases and SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Wastewater Treatment Plant Influent
Fitzgerald, S. F., Rossi, G., Low, A. S., McAteer, S. P., O'Keefe, B., Findlay, D., Cameron, G. J., Pollard, P., Singleton, P. T. R., Ponton, G., Singer, A. C., Farkas, K., Jones, D. L., Graham, D. W., Quintela-Baluja, M., Tait-Burkard, C., Gally, D. L., Kao, R. & Corbishley, A., 16 Nov 2021, In: Environmental Science and Technology. 55, 22, p. 15276-15286 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Size exclusion-based purification and PCR-based quantitation of MS2 bacteriophage particles for environmental applications
Farkas, K., Varsani, A., Marjoshi, D., Easingwood, R., McGill, E. & Pang, L., 1 Mar 2015, In: Journal of Virological Methods. p. 135-138Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Suitability of aircraft wastewater for pathogen detection and public health surveillance
Jones, D. L., Rhymes, J., Wade, M. J., Kevill, J., Malham, S., Grimsley, J. M. S., Rimmer, C., Weightman, A. & Farkas, K., 15 Jan 2023, In: Science of the Total Environment. 856, Pt 2, p. 159162 159162.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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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
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
Tracking effluent discharges in undisturbed stony soil and alluvial gravel aquifer using synthetic DNA tracers
Pang, L., Robson, B., Farkas, K., McGill, E., Varsani, A., Gillot, L., Li, J. & Abraham, P., 15 Aug 2017, In: Science of the Total Environment. 592, p. 144-152Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Two-Step Concentration of Complex Water Samples for the Detection of Viruses
Farkas, K., McDonald, J., Malham, S. & Jones, D. L., 10 Sept 2018, In: Methods and Protocols. 1, 3, 35.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Understanding and managing uncertainty and variability for wastewater monitoring beyond the pandemic: Lessons learned from the United Kingdom national COVID-19 surveillance programmes
Wade, M. J., Lo Jacomo, A., Armenise, E., Brown, M. R., Bunce, J. T., Cameron, G. J., Fang, Z., Farkas, K., Gilpin, D. F., Graham, D. W., Grimsley, J. M. S., Hart, A., Hoffmann, T., Jackson, K. J., Jones, D. L., Lilley, C. J., McGrath, J. W., McKinley, J. M., McSparron, C., Nejad, B. F., Morvan, M., Quintela-Baluja, M., Roberts, A. M. I., Singer, A. C., Souque, C., Speight, V. L., Sweetapple, C., Walker, D., Watts, G., Weightman, A. & Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., 15 Feb 2022, In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. 424, Pt B, 127456.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Use of Capsid Integrity-qPCR for Detecting Viral Capsid Integrity in Wastewater
Kevill, J. L., Farkas, K., Ridding, N., Woodhall, N., Malham, S. K. & Jones, D. L., 26 Dec 2023, In: Viruses. 16, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review