Did you ever wonder why EPA chose a bacteria that didn't cause a disease (until about 1982) and
was inactivated quickly to represent all of the deadly bacteria and viruses and other disease
causing organisms in sludge/biosolids?
http://aem.asm.org/cgi/reprint/3/2/98.pdf
The use of Escherichia coli as a test organism was not considered
feasible because the organism died during storage.
Fecal Streptococci in Frozen Foods
Received for publication October 27, 1954
Yurchenco, Piepoli anid Yurcheuico (1954) studied
the maintenance of stable infectious bacterial collections.
They found that the microorganisms remain
stable and give reproducible "mortality rates" after as
long as two years in freezing storage. No losses in
viability as a result of freezing and thawing were detected.
The virulence of the organisms was unchanged
during the storage period.
Berry (1946) stressed the need for standardized
methods for the examination of frozen foods. The use
of Escherichia coli as a test organism was not considered
feasible because the organism died during
storage.
Stock cultures of E. coli, Salmonella typhosa, and
Shigella paradysenteriae, inoculated into pasteurized
orange concentrate and frozen, were so reduced in [viable but nonculturable (VBNC)]
numbers at the end of 24 hours that a plate count
could not be obtained (Hahn and Appleman, 1952a,
b). Streptococcus faecalis added from stock cultures or
from fresh fecal material outlived all other enteric
organisms