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The relationships between salmonellas and faecal indicator concentrations in two pools in the Australian wet/dry tropics
Author(s) -
Townsend S.A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1992.tb01707.x
Subject(s) - salmonella , indicator organism , fecal coliform , biology , indicator bacteria , veterinary medicine , tropics , coliform bacteria , dry season , drainage basin , most probable number , ecology , water quality , microbiology and biotechnology , geography , bacteria , medicine , genetics , cartography
S.A. TOWNSEND. 1992. The relationships between total coliform, faecal coliform, enterococci and salmonella concentrations were investigated at Berry and Howard Pools in the Australian wet/dry tropics. Both pools have catchments with minimal human activity and no major point source of faecal pollution. Forty‐five indicator and salmonella enumerations were made from each pool over a 1 year period. Salmonellas were isolated from 69% and 96% of samples collected from Howard and Berry Pools respectively, the maximum (MPN) concentration was 110/100 ml. Native fauna were the primary salmonella source. Spearman rank correlations between indicator organisms and salmonella at Howard Pool were significant at the 5% level and approximated 0.6. At Berry Pool, total coliform and enterococci Spearman rank correlations with salmonella were also statistically significant, approximating 0.3; faecal coliforms and salmonella rankings, however, were unrelated. The higher correlation coefficients at Howard Pool were attributed to its small catchment (4 km 2 ) and the more recent nature of faecal contamination compared with Berry Pool which has a catchment of 130 km 2 . The results highlight the spatial variability of the indicator/pathogen numerical relationship. Total coliform and enterococci counts, as indicators of faecal pollution, were similar and more consistent than faecal coliforms.