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Microbial Source Tracking
Citation:
Harwood, V., H. Ryu, AND J. W. SANTO-DOMINGO. Microbial Source Tracking. Chapter 9, M.J. Sadowsky and R.L. Whitman (ed.), The Fecal Bacteria, ISBN9781555816087. ASM Press, Washington, DC, , p.189-216, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Bacterial indicators of fecal contamination provide the basis for assessing the microbial quality of environmental waters. While the indicator concept has overall helped reduce waterborne outbreaks in recreational waters, the public health value of currently used indicator bacteria is often questioned due to the frequent discrepancy between indicator bacteria and pathogen concentrations. Such discrepancy can be explained in part by the ecology of the indicator bacteria and human pathogens, and the large diversity of pathogens associated with human illness. From a regulatory standpoint and from historic public health data, it is assumed that exposure to waters impacted with human fecal sources carries the greatest risk, in spite of the increasing importance of animals sources in the transmission of zoonotic agents (Craun et al., 2004; Till et al., 2004). However, enumerating indicator bacteria cannot be used to discriminate between human and animal sources due to their widespread distribution in the feces of various animals, humans, and environmental reservoirs.
