We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Abundance of <italic>Naegleria fowleri</italic> in roof-harvested rainwater tank samples from two continents.
- Authors
Waso, Monique; Dobrowsky, Penelope Heather; Khan, Wesaal; Hamilton, Kerry Ann; Ahmed, Warish; Puzon, Geoffrey; Miller, Haylea
- Abstract
Roof-harvested rainwater (RHRW) has been used as an alternative source of water in water scarce regions of many countries. The microbiological and chemical quality of RHRW has been questioned due to the presence of bacterial and protozoan pathogens. However, information on the occurrence of pathogenic amoeba in RHRW tank samples is needed due to their health risk potential and known associations with opportunistic pathogens. Therefore, this study aims to determine the quantitative occurrence of <italic>Naegleria fowleri</italic> in RHRW tank samples from Southeast Queensland (SEQ), Australia (AU), and the Kleinmond Housing Scheme located in Kleinmond, South Africa (SA). In all, 134 and 80 RHRW tank samples were collected from SEQ, and the Kleinmond Housing Scheme, Western Cape, SA, respectively. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays were used to measure the concentrations of <italic>N. fowleri</italic>, and culture-based methods were used to measure fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> (<italic>E. coli</italic>) and <italic>Enterococcus</italic> spp. Of the 134 tank water samples tested from AU, 69 and 62.7% were positive for <italic>E. coli</italic>, and <italic>Enterococcus</italic> spp., respectively. For the SA tank water samples, FIB analysis was conducted for samples SA-T41 to SA-T80 (<italic>n</italic> = 40). Of the 40 samples analyzed from SA, 95 and 35% were positive for <italic>E. coli</italic> and <italic>Enterococcus</italic> spp., respectively. Of the 134 water samples tested in AU, 15 (11.2%) water samples were positive for <italic>N. fowleri</italic>, and the concentrations ranged from 1.7 × 102 to 3.6 × 104 gene copies per 100 mL of water. Of the 80 SA tank water samples screened for <italic>N. fowleri</italic>, 15 (18.8%) tank water samples were positive for <italic>N. fowleri</italic> and the concentrations ranged from 2.1 × 101 to 7.8 × 104 gene copies per 100 mL of tank water. The prevalence of <italic>N. fowleri</italic> in RHRW tank samples from AU and SA thus warrants further development of dose-response models for <italic>N. fowleri</italic> and a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to inform and prioritize strategies for reducing associated public health risks.
- Subjects
NAEGLERIA fowleri; RAINWATER analysis; WATER harvesting; HEALTH risk assessment; STORAGE tanks; BACTERIAL ecology; POLYMERASE chain reaction
- Publication
Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 2018, Vol 25, Issue 6, p5700
- ISSN
0944-1344
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11356-017-0870-9