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Survival of enteric bacteria and coliphage MS2 in pure human urine
Author(s) -
Chandran A.,
Pradhan S.K.,
HeinTanski H.
Publication year - 2009
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04353.x
Subject(s) - urine , coliphage , salmonella , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , salmonella enterica , enterococcus faecalis , contamination , bacteria , escherichia coli , ecology , biochemistry , genetics , bacteriophage , gene , staphylococcus aureus
Aims: The survival of Escherichia coli , Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Enterococcus faecalis and coliphage MS2 was studied in stored, fresh and diluted (1 : 1) human urine at 15 and 30°C. Methods and Results: Survival rate was studied by the plate count method. All the organisms showed rapid inactivation in stored urine, but they survived better in diluted and fresh urine. The high pH level and temperature were the major factors found to influence the survival of the micro‐organisms with the survival rate being higher at 15°C than at 30°C. Conclusions: The destruction of all micro‐organisms in stored urine required <1 week at 30°C. Thus, the storage of urine is a useful way to reduce the risk of contamination while using urine as a fertilizer. Significance and Impact of the Study: The urine fertilization is aimed for the developing countries and the high temperatures in these countries may hasten the destruction of micro‐organisms in urine. On the contrary, a higher survival rate of these organisms in fresh and diluted urine is a public health concern because the dilution of urine with water is likely to happen during flushing.