Detection of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains in wastewater by fluorescent antibody.

Flourescent antibody (FA) techniques were used to evaluate fluorescein-labeled enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EEC) OB globulins as a means of presumptively detecting these serogroups in wastewater. Four of the more prevalent and incriminated EEC serogroups were detected by FA and isolated from wastewater. A total of 317 sewage isolates biochemically defined as E. coli were tested by FA and agglutination tests. Only a small number of these isolates (9/317, 2.8%) were serologically groups as being enteropathogenic related strains. The frequency of occurrence of EEC organisms in a wastewater, as determined by FA, is reported. The use of highly specific OB fluorescent antibodies to monitor wastewater for the presence of EEC is discussed.