Department of Natural Resources and Water, Brisbane, Australia.
Can J Microbiol. 2010 Jun;56(6):471-9. doi: 10.1139/w10-037.
The study aimed to evaluate the suitability of Escherichia coli, enterococci, and Clostridium perfringens for assessing the microbiological quality of roof-harvested rainwater and assessing whether the concentrations of these faecal indicators can be used to predict the presence or absence of specific zoonotic bacterial or protozoan pathogens. From a total of 100 samples tested, 58%, 83%, and 46% of samples were found to be positive for, respectively, E. coli, enterococci, and Clostridium perfringens spores, as determined by traditional culture-based methods. Additionally, in the samples tested, 7%, 19%, 1%, 8%, 17%, and 15% were PCR positive for Aeromonas hydrophila lip, Campylobacter coli ceuE, Campylobacter jejuni mapA, Legionella pneumophila mip, Salmonella invA, and Giardia lamblia beta-giardin genes, respectively. However, none of the samples was positive for E. coli O157 lipopolysaccharide, verocytotoxin 1, and verocytotoxin 2 and Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst wall protein genes. The presence or absence of these potential pathogens did not correlate with any of the faecal indicator bacterial concentrations as determined by a binary logistic regression model. The roof-harvested rainwater samples tested in this study appeared to be of poor microbiological quality, and no significant correlation was found between the concentration of faecal indicators and pathogenic microorganisms. The use of faecal indicator bacteria raises questions regarding their reliability in assessing the microbiological quality of water and particularly their poor correlation with pathogenic microorganisms. The presence of one or more zoonotic pathogens suggests that the microbiological analysis of water should be performed and that appropriate treatment measures should be undertaken, especially in tanks where the water is used for drinking.
本研究旨在评估大肠杆菌、肠球菌和产气荚膜梭菌是否适用于评估屋顶集雨的微生物质量，以及这些粪便指示物的浓度是否可用于预测特定的人畜共患细菌或原生动物病原体的存在与否。在总共测试的 100 个样本中，分别有 58%、83%和 46%的样本通过传统的基于培养的方法检测到大肠杆菌、肠球菌和产气荚膜梭菌孢子呈阳性。此外，在所测试的样本中，7%、19%、1%、8%、17%和 15%的样本分别对气单胞菌 lip、空肠弯曲菌 ceuE、空肠弯曲菌 mapA、嗜肺军团菌 mip、沙门氏菌 invA 和贾第鞭毛虫β-微管蛋白基因呈 PCR 阳性。然而，没有一个样本对大肠杆菌 O157 脂多糖、细胞毒素 1 和细胞毒素 2 以及隐孢子虫小孢子壁蛋白基因呈阳性。这些潜在病原体的存在与否与二元逻辑回归模型确定的任何粪便指示细菌浓度均无相关性。本研究中测试的屋顶集雨样本似乎具有较差的微生物质量，粪便指示物浓度与致病微生物之间未发现显著相关性。粪便指示物细菌的使用引发了对其评估水质微生物质量的可靠性的质疑，特别是它们与致病微生物的相关性较差。一种或多种人畜共患病原体的存在表明应进行水质微生物分析，并应采取适当的处理措施，特别是在用于饮用水的水箱中。
