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Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in farm water: its role as a vector in the transmission of the organism within herds
Author(s) -
McGee P.,
Bolton D.J.,
Sheridan J.J.,
Earley B.,
Kelly G.,
Leonard N.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2002.01752.x
Subject(s) - escherichia coli , feces , inoculation , distilled water , biology , water tanks , herd , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , zoology , veterinary medicine , enterobacteriaceae , food science , chemistry , horticulture , environmental engineering , medicine , environmental science , biochemistry , genetics , chromatography , gene
Aims : The study aimed to investigate the survival characteristics of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in farm water (FW), and in sterile distilled municipal water (SDW), stored outdoors under field conditions, with or without the addition of faeces (1% w/v), in a farmyard shed and the laboratory at 15°C.
Methods and Results: Water samples were inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 at 10 3 and 10 6 ml −1 , and sampled over a 31‐day period. In FW stored outdoors in a field, E. coli O157:H7 survived for 14 days at temperatures <15°C, at both inoculation levels, while in the laboratory at 15°C, the organism was still detectable at low levels (<1 log 10 cfu ml −1 ) after 31 days. The addition of bovine faeces to water outdoors (1% w/v) resulted in survival for 24 days. In SDW inoculated at 10 6 ml −1 and stored in the laboratory (15°C), only a 2·5 log reduction was observed after 31 days, while the organism could not be detected after 17 days in the field. Preliminary screening of water samples stored outdoors isolated a bacterium which exhibited antimicrobial activity towards E . coli O157:H7.
Conclusions: The survival of E. coli O157:H7 observed in this study illustrates the potential of farm water to act as a vehicle in the transfer of the organism across a herd.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The difficulty in extrapolating results from controlled laboratory situations to on‐farm conditions is also highlighted in this study.