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Plots of the correlations between log-transformed data of E. coli and FC (A), ENT and FC (B), and ENT and E. coli (C). Dashed areas denote situations where ENT were abundant while FC and E. coli could not be detected.
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Wild birds are an important nonpoint source of fecal contamination of surface waters, but their contribution to fecal pollution is mostly difficult to estimate. Thus, to evaluate the relation between feces production and input of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) into aquatic environments by wild waterfowl, we introduced a new holistic approach for ev...
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The Buffalo River and its dams are major surface water sources used for fresh produce irrigation, raw water abstraction and recreation in parts of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Over a 12-month period (August 2010 to July 2011), we assessed the bacteriological qualities of water from the river and 3 source water dams along its course. F...
Data concerning the occurrence of emerging biological contaminants such as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in aquatic environments in Sub-Saharan African countries is limited. On the other hand, antibiotic resistance remains a worldwide problem which may pose serious potential risks to human and animal health....
This study investigated causes of persistent fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in beach sand under the pier in Santa Monica, CA. FIB levels were up to 1000 times higher in sand underneath the pier than that collected from adjacent to the pier, with the highest concentrations under the pier in spring and fall. Escherichia coli (EC) and enterococci (ENT...
Citations
... Although feces contain abundant bacteria, avian and reptilian organisms combine their feces with urine, which contains minimal bacteria and therefore lowers the overall concentrations of the bacteria present in fecal samples (Khan et al., 1991;Mahony et al., 1998;Munch et al., 2019). Further, urine contains PCR inhibitors, such as uric acid, which lower the efficiency of DNA polymerase (Munch et al., 2019) and impede bacterial DNA detection (Alcaraz et al., 2016;Eriksson et al., 2017;Gerasimidis et al., 2016;Khan et al., 1991;Kirschner et al., 2004;Mahony et al., 1998;Munch et al., 2019;Videvall et al., 2018). Additionally, preen oil displays low bacterial abundance and exhibits antimicrobial properties (Martín-Vivaldi et al., 2009), leading to an expectation of even lower bacterial yields from preen gland versus avian fecal samples (Alcaraz et al., 2016). ...
As DNA sequencing technology continues to rapidly improve, studies investigating the microbial communities of host organisms (i.e., microbiota) are becoming not only more popular but also more financially accessible. Across many taxa, microbiomes can have important impacts on organismal health and fitness. To evaluate the microbial community composition of a particular microbiome, microbial DNA must be successfully extracted. Fecal samples are often easy to collect and are a good source of gut microbial DNA. Additionally, interest in the avian preen gland microbiome is rapidly growing, due to the importance of preen oil for many aspects of avian life. Microbial DNA extractions from avian fecal and preen oil samples present multiple challenges, however. Here, we describe a modified PrepMan Ultra Sample Preparation Reagent microbial DNA extraction method that is less expensive than other commonly used methodologies and is highly effective for both fecal and preen oil samples collected from a broad range of avian species. We expect our method will facilitate microbial DNA extractions from multiple avian microbiome reservoirs, which have previously proved difficult and expensive. Our method therefore increases the feasibility of future studies of avian host microbiomes.
... When birds congregate on floating cages, they can negatively impact the quality of coastal waters and can influence pathogen levels in or near aquaculture production facilities [3,4]. Wild bird abundance was shown to contribute to coliform counts in shallow waters [4]. ...
The Wildlife Services—National Wildlife Research Center Mississippi Field Station, working in conjunction with Mississippi State University, conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of several non-lethal, commercial, physical bird deterrents. Deterrents were available on the open market to reduce double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritus) (DCCO) roosting time on floating oyster cages. We hypothesized that reducing bird loafing time on floating oyster cages would reduce the potential for bird defecation. Double-crested cormorant defecation can increase coliform counts in both the water and oysters, which could result in oyster farm closure. Shellfish farms often differ from one another due to environmental factors and farm locations. Six deterrent devices were selected as options for farmers, and the amount of time DCCOs occupied floats with deterrents was compared to the time they occupied those without deterrents (i.e., on a control pond). All deterrents except the Scarem Kite significantly reduced or halted DCCO use of floats compared to the control. Of note, the Scarem Kite is the only deterrent that requires consistent wind to operate effectively. The research facility is open-air, but we did not have sufficient wind for proper Scarem Kite function. Thus, it is possible that all deterrents would have produced significant reductions in DCCO use. Our results are encouraging and show that minimal deterrent applications to oyster cage floats can help farms achieve their operational plans’ goals and reduce the potential for pathogen transfer by birds. The data presented here should be considered a starting point for developing an efficient deterrent plan that meets state and federal standards.
... It seems unlikely that a differential shedding of the two FIBs took place and more Enterococci than E. coli entered the river water during the festival. In contrast, faeces from humans (Wright 1982;Farnleitner et al. 2010) and waterfowl (Kirschner et al. 2004) usually contains higher average concentrations of E. coli than Enterococci. A plausible explanation for the observed differential increase could have been a different persistence of the two FIBs. ...
... A plausible explanation for the observed differential increase could have been a different persistence of the two FIBs. Such an uncoupling of Enterococci and E. coli values has been observed previously for saline environments (Kirschner et al. 2004), with E. coli showing lower persistence at higher salinities (Sagarduy et al. 2019). ...
Rivers are impacted by microbial faecal pollution from various sources. We report on a short-term faecal pollution event at the pre-alpine Austrian river Traisen caused by the large cultural event FM4 Frequency music festival, with around 200,000 visitors over 4 days. We observed a massive increase of the faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) intestinal Enterococci during the event, while Escherichia coli concentrations were only slightly elevated. This increase poses a significant potential health threat to visitors and people recreating downstream of the festival area. A plausible explanation for the uncoupling of the two FIBs may have been a differential persistence caused by a combination of factors including water temperature, solar radiation, and the excessive presence of personal care products (PCPs) in the river water. However, a potential impact of PCPs on FIB assay performance cannot be ruled out. Our observations are relevant for other intensively used bathing sites; detailed investigations on persistence and assay performance of the FIB in response to different ingredients of PCPs are highly recommended. We conclude that for future festivals at this river or other festivals taking place under similar settings, a more effective management is necessary to reduce deterioration in water quality and minimise health risks.
... showing low to moderate faecal pollution levels and abundant aquatic microbiomes (e.g., 10 9 -10 11 cells per litre for lakes or rivers, (Kirschner et al., 2004, Velimirov et al., 2011, become problematic, even when applying high amplicon sequencing-depth (Vierheilig et al., 2015). Consequently, identified studies have most frequently focused on water resources with significant municipal and agricultural faecal pollution levels (section In-depth review of the application areas of genetic faecal pollution diagnostic through case studies'). ...
The impacts on faecal pollution analysis using nucleic acid-based methods, such as PCR and sequencing, in health-related water quality research were assessed by rigorous literature analysis. A wide range of application areas and study designs has been identified since the first application more than 30 years ago (>1,100 publications). Given the consistency of methods and assessment types, we suggest defining this emerging part of science as a new discipline: genetic faecal pollution diagnostics (GFPD) in health-related microbial water quality analysis. Undoubtedly, GFPD has already revolutionised faecal pollution detection and microbial source tracking, the current core applications. GFPD is also expanding to many other research areas, including infection and health risk assessment, evaluation of microbial water treatment, and support of wastewater surveillance. In addition, storage of DNA extracts allows for biobanking, which opens up new perspectives. The tools of GFPD can be combined with cultivation-based standardised faecal indicator enumeration, pathogen detection, and various environmental data types, in an integrated data analysis approach. This comprehensive meta-analysis provides the scientific status quo of this field, including trend analyses and literature statistics, outlining identified application areas, and discussing the benefits and challenges of nucleic acid-based analysis in GFPD.
... Our data sets are somewhat skewed right and tend to have heavy tails since the data gathered from 4 to 7 sample stations has a high coefficient of skewness ( birds and wildlife should also be assessed (An et al., 2002;Kirschner et al., 2004, Chigbu et al., 2005Zhu et al., 2011, Kacar 2011Saibi et al. 2013). ...
... is the farthest northeast point near the pine forest, which does not have a good water circulation Chigbu et al. 2005;Kirschner et al. 2004). FC was found to be associated (p>0.01) with temperature, pH, and salinity in the study (Sugumar et al. 2008;Kacar 2011). ...
Narta Lagoon is one of the biggest Lagoons in Albania. It is situated in the southern part of the Vjosa River delta. Two canals in the northwest and southwest parts of the lagoon connect it to the Adriatic Sea. These artificial canals enable the water exchange process with the sea during tidal flow. Vjose - Narta area is considered a Protected Landscape, so environmental monitoring is important. Setting and design: Water samples were taken monthly, at six evenly distributed sample stations. The study was conducted from January – to December 2018. Materials and methods: The assessment of microbial contamination was performed with the MPN method. Total coliform, fecal coliform, and fecal streptococci were tested as fecal contamination indicators. PH and salinity were the physicochemical parameters analyzed. Conclusions: the cleanest sampling station is the one near contact with the seawater. The most polluted stations are stations 2, 4, and 6. Temperature values range from 5 oC in January to 33 oC in August. Lagoon pollution is caused by an anthropogenic factor as well as a lack of appropriate cleaning strategies.
... Fecal indicator bacteria. i.e. total coliforms, fecal coliforms (thermo-tolerant coliforms) and intestinal enterococci (fecal streptococci) are excreted by humans, and warm-blooded animals pass through the sewage treatment plants and survive for a certain time in the aquatic environment [14]. The coliform bacteria differ considerably in their pathogenic properties. ...
The "white sand mussels" are edible bivalves inhabiting the littoral shores usually buried in the sand. Тhey are invasive species for the Bulgarian waters of the Black Sea. The samples for this study were collected from different points on the northern and southern Black Sea Bulgarian coast in the period January 2020 to December 2020. The study of different types of microorganisms was performed by using the microbial identification system model: MicroLog M® BIO45101 BiologInc and the software product GEN III. The physic-chemical parameters of the waters – temperature, pH, salinity and dissolved O2 were also determined. In the different species, we had detected specific microbiological complexes. The species Pseudomonas viridilivida and Citrobacter farmer were isolated only from Donax trunculus. The species Escherichia hermannii was found only in Mya arenaria, and Acinetobacter johnsonii was detected only in Chamelea gallina. The isolated species Acinetobacter gyllenbergii and Acinetobacter johnsonii are related to humans and are indicators for pollution of the water with channel waste waters. Our results demonstrated an increase ofhe quantity of the coliforms the region of Sveti Vlas from August, where they were 50 the norms. In the region of Arkutino in July and Ahtopol in August, the quantity of the fecal coliforms is 190 and 30 times the norms prescribed in the Ordinanceo. 4 from 20.10.2000 for the quality of fisheries water and the breeding of shellfish (the amount of fecal coliforms in the inter-shell content should be less than 300 NVB). We noticed also seriousollution of the Varna lake even months after an accident with a leaky pipe.
... The hypertrophic shallow soda lake (Oberer Stinker, OS) is characterized by high total salt concentrations and turbidity (Eiler et al., 2003;Kirschner et al., 2004). It was formed by mineral solutes ascending with the groundwater flux (Krachler et al., 2000) and is characterized by pH values ranging from 9.4 to 10 (Eiler et al., 2003). ...
Molecular diagnostic methods are increasingly applied for food and environmental analysis. Since several steps are involved in sample processing which can affect the outcome (e.g., adhesion of DNA to the sample matrix, inefficient precipitation of DNA, pipetting errors and (partial) loss of the DNA pellet during DNA isolation), quality control is essential at all processing levels. In soil microbiology, particular attention has been paid to the inorganic component of the sample matrix affecting DNA extractability. In water quality testing, however, this aspect has mostly been neglected so far, although it is conceivable that these mechanisms have a similar impact. The present study was therefore dedicated to investigate possible matrix effects on results of water quality analysis. Field testing in an aquatic environment with pronounced chemo-physical gradients [total suspended solids (TSS), inorganic turbidity, total organic carbon (TOC), and conductivity] indicated a negative association between DNA extractability (using a standard phenol/chloroform extraction procedure) and turbidity (spearman ρ = −0.72, p < 0.001, n = 21). Further detailed laboratory experiments on sediment suspensions confirmed the hypothesis of inorganic turbidity being the main driver for reduced DNA extractability. The observed effects, as known from soil samples, were also indicated to result from competitive effects for free charges on clay minerals, leading to adsorption of DNA to these inorganic particles. A protocol modification by supplementing the extraction buffer with salmon sperm DNA, to coat charged surfaces prior to cell lysis, was then applied on environmental water samples and compared to the standard protocol. At sites characterized by high inorganic turbidity, DNA extractability was significantly improved or made possible in the first place by applying the adapted protocol. This became apparent from intestinal enterococci and microbial source tracking (MST)-marker levels measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) (100 to 10,000-fold median increase in target concentrations). The present study emphasizes the need to consider inorganic turbidity as a potential loss factor in DNA extraction from water-matrices. Negligence of these effects can lead to a massive bias, by up to several orders of magnitude, in the results of molecular MST and fecal pollution diagnostics.
... Those investigations focused almost exclusively on the contribution of catchment soil (Mushi 2018), counts of catchment septic tanks (Verhougstraete et al. 2015) and sewage effluents (Xiao et al. 2018) to the microbiological quality of riverine water. To the best of our knowledge, only Kirschner et al. (2004) have published a paper on faecal taxation in stagnant ponds but not in riverine systems. To generate a comprehensive data set for hypothesis testing, the abundance of ambient faecal pellets and SFIB concentrations in the catchment soil and river water were separately measured over a 12-month faecal pollution study across five sites strategically spaced throughout the Upper Awash Basin in the Ethiopian Highlands. ...
... On-site quantification of animal faecal pellets was performed by a method modified from a previously published procedure developed by Kirschner et al. (2004). Briefly, a quadrant 20 Â 20 m in area was established on the left and right riparian environments, which represented the immediate surroundings of each of the selected sampling points ( Figure 1). ...
Tropical communities in the developing world depend heavily on riverine systems for their socioeconomic development. However, these resources are poorly protected from diffuse pollution, and there is a lack of quantitative information regarding the microbial pollution characteristics of riverine water, despite frequently reported gastrointestinal diseases. The aim of our study was to apply faecal taxation (i.e., faecal pellet counting in representative test areas to estimate the potential availability of diffuse pollution sources) in combination with a detailed microbiological faecal pollution analysis in a riverine environment to elucidate the importance of diffuse pollution. To realize this approach, ambient faecal pellets, a multiparametric data set for standard faecal indicator bacteria (SFIB), including Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens spores and enterococci from catchment soil and river water, and a number of riverine water physicochemical variables were analysed during a one-year cycle. We demonstrated that the abundance of ambient faecal pellets, which were consistently counted at reference sites in the catchment, was associated with faecal pollution in the river water. Water SFIB, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, conductivity and total suspended solids were strongly linked with the abundance of ambient faecal pellets in the river catchment, as demonstrated by principal component analysis (PCA). Elevated concentrations of SFIB in the riverine water in the absence of rainfall also suggested the direct input of faecal bacteria into the riverine water by livestock (e.g., during watering) and humans (e.g., during bathing). Statistical analyses further revealed that the microbiological water quality of the investigated riverine water was not influenced by SFIB potentially occurring in the soil. This study demonstrates the importance of diffuse faecal pollution sources as major drivers of the microbiological quality of riverine water in the Ethiopian highlands. In addition, the new successfully applied integrated approach could be very useful for developing predictive models, which would aid in forecasting riverine microbiological quality in tropical developing countries. HIGHLIGHTS
Faecal taxation could reveal diffuse drivers of standard faecal indicator bacteria (SFIB) in riverine water.;
Data from rainfall, soil and water SFIB and faecal pellet counts were integrated.;
Rainfall-induced runoff introduced catchment faecal pellets to the river water.;
SFIB densities in the riverine water strongly correlated with faecal pellet counts.;
Faecal pellets and rainfall-induced runoff were the dominant drivers of SFIB in the riverine water.;
... Instead of global efforts and latest techniques water born diseases are still a 3 challenge . Many studies have been conducted for the assessment of contamination of drinking water and prevention of the water borne diseases world 4,5 wide . ...
… Objectives: Main objective was to check drinking water for pathogenic bacterialload, their resistance to antimicrobials and to create awareness among the people of Quetta cityabout safe drinking water. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted inDepartment of Microbiology Bolan Medical Complex Hospital Quetta during the hot season inQuetta City (June- September 2013). Methodology: One hundred and twenty five (125) tapewater samples were collected aseptically in 200 ml sterile caped glass bottles from differentlocalities of Quetta city. Samples were passed through mille pore assembly containing 0.45 μmpore-sizecellulose nitrate sterile membrane filter (MF).Viable count technique was used forenumeration of water samples having high bacterial burden. Serological tests and analyticalprofile index API-20E (Biomerieux France) were used to identify pathogens according to themanufacturer’s directions. Standardized antibiotic sensitivity test was performed on MuellerHinton agar using disc diffusion Kirby Bauer technique and McFarland Turbidity Standardmethod 0.5 following CLSI protocols. Results: Out of hundred and twenty five (125) tape watersamples 110 (88 %) showed highly pathogenic bacterial load, in which the most prominentorganism was E.coli 36 (28.8 %), followed by Enterobacter 35 (28 %), Klebsiella 24 (19.2 %),Pseudomonas, 10 (08 %), and Salmonella 05 (04 %). All pathogens in this study expressed a highlevel of resistance to antimicrobials that are commonly used in clinical medicine i.e. Tetracycline,Gentamycin, Sulphamethaxazole, Piperacillin, Ampicillin, Augmentin and Imipenam etc. Only 15(12 %) samples were pathogens free. Conclusion: Among drinking water samples the presenceof pathogenic bacteria (88%) is alarming for public health authorities. The emergence ofresistance and decreasing level of susceptibility of pathogens to a wide spectrum ofantimicrobials is a matter of great concern, because it may limit the availability of antimicrobialsfor clinical management of water born outbreaks in future.
... The droppings of the birds swimming at the secondary and tertiary ponds at the treatment plant would have contributed to increase of TC, making the plant inefficient. 18,19 observed that from the drinking water production stand point the presence of aquatic birds at the water reservoirs was associated with decreasing quality of water. The lack of any physical instrument that can remove the fine debris at the BWSTP might also have contributed to the treatment plant no to achieve the irrigation standards during the two seasons. ...
Water scarcity has resulted to urban residence to resort to using untreated wastewater to irrigate their crops. This practice raises concerns on health of the farmers and consumers of the crops. The study aimed at determining whether the effluent from Boundary Sewage Treatment Plant was up to national and international standards recommended for irrigation, if not they were further subjected to slow sand filtration of different sand sizes (0.1 and 0.05 mm ) to polish the effluent. Pour plate method was used to determine total coliforms (TC), BOD5 technique for Biological oxygen demand (BOD), COD digestion for chemical oxygen demand (COD), gravimetric method for total dissolved solids (TDS) and total Suspended solids (TSS). One sample t- test during dry season showed that BOD, COD, TC and TSS in the effluent were significantly higher (p0.05) than the compared standards for the wastewater to be used for crop irrigation. The filters improved the effluent from the treatment plant to the standards for irrigation. The sequential treatment of the raw wastewater by the Boundary Sewage Treatment Plant and the slow sand filtration technique made the wastewater to achieve the standards it can be utilized for crop irrigation
